Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Bad Boys: Ride or Die!

Summary

Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah reveal Smith’s slap moment in
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
was improvised and a hit in test screenings.
Smith was deeply involved in the film’s production, contributing personal touches like the slap scene.
The scene provided comic relief and was well-received by audiences, adding a unique touch to the movie’s climax while referencing the actor’s 2022 Oscars incident.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have addressed the ending’s Will Smith slap, while also responding to viewer reactions to the surprising moment. Near the end of Bad Boys: Ride or Die during its climactic action scene, Smith’s Mike Lowery freezes up, making it unclear if he’ll be able to fight his way through the enemies ahead of him. However, Marcus (Martin Lawrence) slaps him out of it, a callback to the 2022 Oscars when Smith slapped Chris Rick onstage.

Speaking with Variety, El Arbi and Fallah explained what it was like to have a reference to Smith’s slap incident in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, while also addressing audience reactions to the moment. The directors explained how the moment wasn’t rehearsed, and although they were wary of including it, the scene ultimately paid off in the end. Check out what El Arbi and Fallah had to say below:

Fallah:
Will is coming with this idea; he made this movie really personal. Will was really engaged from the first second that we started pre-production until the last day of the edit. When we were shooting that moment, the sun was going down and we were like, “We didn’t finish the scene,” so that was really almost a freestyle moment…. that was not on the page. That was in the moment.

El Arbi:
That was on the spot. We just said, like, “Yeah, Martin, just go ahead. More,
more
.”

Fallah:
We all thought it was funny. That’s really what we were going for. We were not 100% sure how people would respond to it.

El Arbi:
It felt like a big release, for some reason. Like there was some kind of tension and then a release, and the audience laughed and enjoyed that moment. You’re never 100% sure, up until you test it, how they’re gonna react. The fact that, in the test screenings, it was one of the biggest laughs you could have, we felt like, “Okay, we did the right thing.” It worked out, and it was important for that moment, for the movie and for Will.

Why Smith Getting Slapped In Bad Boys 4 Brings His Oscars Incident Full Circle
Custom Image by Nick Bythrow

Smith’s Oscars slap was the most controversial event to happen at the 2022 Academy Awards, resulting in the actor being banned from Academy events for the next 10 years. However, as El Arbi and Fallah indicate, the slap during the movie was agreed upon by the actor, with the moment being a direct reference to the incident. However, Smith is the one being slapped here, giving the critically praised Bad Boys: Ride or Die a layer of real-world commentary that elevates the film.

By having Smith get slapped during the movie, the moment seems to serve as a way of bringing the real-life incident to a close on the big screen. As El Arbi states, the moment acts as a release of built-up tension, something that even test audiences caught given the positive reactions. Because the movie directly acknowledges the incident, it makes it seem almost apologetic in the way it approaches the event. With the actor now on the receiving end of the slap, it manages to offer a funny scene while acknowledging what really happened.

Because of the reality of the event, Bad Boys: Ride or Die could only have referenced it by making Smith the one on the other end of the slap. By doing this, the movie manages to bring itself to a new level, giving audiences a hilarious scene that helps close out this chapter in the actor’s career. While it’s unclear if a Bad Boys 5 will happen, if it does, it’s unlikely to have another reference to the event. Closing it out in the fourth installment, though, may allow the actor to move on with his career without being hindered.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die
is another successful entry in the franchise, earning $235.9 million at the box office against a $100 million budget as of writing.

Source: Variety

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the fourth installment in the action-comedy film series starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The series centers on hard-boiled Miami detectives Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett, who take on dangerous drug kingpins and thwart dangerous schemes as they attempt to stop the circulation of illicit drugs in their city.Director Adil El Arbi , Bilall Fallah Release Date June 7, 2024 Studio(s) Columbia Pictures , 2.0 Entertainment , Don Simpson Films , Jerry Bruckheimer Films , Westbrook Studios Distributor(s) Sony Pictures Releasing Writers Chris Bremner Cast Will Smith , Martin Lawrence , Vanessa Hudgens , Alexander Ludwig , Paola Núñez , Eric Dane , Ioan Gruffudd , Tasha Smith Expand