10 Recent Movie Sequels NOBODY Expected To Be Good

3. Bad Boys: Ride or Die

2020's belated third Bad Boys film, inexplicably titled Bad Boys for Life, had strong "you just about got away with it" energy. 

While it lacked the gonzo maximalism and unapologetic mean-spiritedness of Michael Bay's second film, the threequel benefitted from the undeniable chemistry between stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, as well as a bevy of well-oiled action sequences.

It wasn't great, but it was a solid victory lap for Smith and Lawrence which closed out the trilogy in acceptable fashion.

But of course, when Bad Boys for Life ended up the highest-grossing film of the series, Sony quickly greenlit a fourth, Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

Even with the third film's directors, Adil & Bilall, returning, the marketing made this look like a pure cash-in - huffing the fumes of its predecessor's success with desperate, diminished returns.

With a narrative revolving around the legacy of the late Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), it was hardly the most exciting setup for the start of a potential new trilogy.

And while the fourth Bad Boys is basically an also-ran sequel, it also happens to be a pretty fun one, propelled nimbly along by Smith and Lawrence's game work and some stylishly conceived set-pieces.

It's basically cinematic junk food, and sometimes that's all the mind and body wants. It is, at least, a far cry from the rush-job cash-grab sequel it seemed to be at the outset.