Released unto a post-slap world, the fourth Bad Boys carries the double jeopardy of also being Will Smith’s first shot at a box office still reeling from its darkest year. There’s a reason they’ve called this one Ride or Die. Fear not. In short, unlikely financial fallibility is about as dangerous as things get here, frenetic direction and kooky visuals only going so far to disguise the film’s safer instincts. Moreover, so assured is Smith’s gigawatt charisma – on screen at least – that it’s an effort to remember the bulb ever blinked. Almost thirty years on from its debut, the Bad Boys franchise has fuel in its turbo yet.
David Leitch packs literally every punch in his over-stuffed but hugely likeable new action comedy, The Fall Guy. Literally. Every. Punch. Notionally an adaptation of Glen A. Larson’s eponymous early eighties TV show – a fleeting hit in the States but not so much oversees – the film romps with the hook that stunt artists are both criminally overlooked and super cool. Two irrefutable truths. It benefits from the stellar unification of Ryan Gosling, now well established in his neon, no-f***s era, and Emily Blunt, together the supporting stars of last year’s two biggest blockbusters. Alongside the zeitgeisty casting, existential engagement with AI and deep-fake anxiety gifts the film pleasing contemporary pertinence, perms and gold nylon tracksuits notwithstanding.
There’s nothing wrong with a children’s film striving for cross-generational appeal. A hit on target can be pure magic. Pixar nailed just that with every film in their heyday and it’s a sweet spot the first two Paddington films exemplified. Miss, however, and you might wind up with a film like IF. That’s to say, a middling effort, neither fun enough for kids nor interesting enough for mum and dad. This is the new feature from John Krasinski, skewing young for the first time after horror dabbles in A Quiet Place. Krasinski has a natural flare for concept cinema but here his efforts feel strained, the push for pathos too obvious and contrived. It’s like watching an adult’s distant memory of childhood, repurposed through the weary lens of parental experience. The imagination is there, it’s just not the wild and boundless sort of children really enjoy.
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