Warning: spoilers for Bad Boys: Ride or Die are in play. So if you haven’t cracked Mike and Marcus’s latest case just yet, you’ve been warned.
As the 2024 movie Bad Boys: Ride or Die enjoys its time at the box office, it’s not hard to see why die-hard fans and newcomers are enjoying the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence starring legacy-quel. But even in counting myself as someone who’s enjoyed the most recent exploits of Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett, there was a moment that I wanted to know more about: the finale sequence involving a certain gator. And, when I had the chance to speak to screenwriter Will Beall about his contributions to the story, he filled me in on how his own fandom of the James Bond movies inspired the original take on this sequence. Which, in hindsight, makes a lot of sense.
I like to call the central creature of this climatic scene the “Gator ex Machina” but, per the lore of Bad Boys’ latest entry, he's called Duke. A gigantic albino alligator, he acts as judge, jury and executioner throughout the final fight in directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s latest action flick. On the surface, his sequence is wild but, as I discovered, there was an excellent method to the screenwriter's madness.
How Roger Moore’s James Bond Inspired A Bad Boys: Ride Or Die Set Piece
The final showdown in Bad Boys: Ride or Die takes place in Gatorland, a fictional abandoned theme park that has… well, gators. And its prime attraction is none other than Duke, who at this point in our story has become a bit of an urban legend. Apparently, he lurks on the park grounds, waiting to show up whenever he feels like saving the Bad Boys: Ride or Die cast … or chowing down on specific evil doers in the last act.
So, of course, a huge shootout reminiscent of a Call of Duty map (which also includes that “cathartic” Bad Boys 4 slap scene that may have been a nod to Will Smith’s infamous Oscar altercation) would be the event to summon the Duke. Much was revealed when I spoke with writer Will Beall, on behalf of the two action/adventure films he has out this summer; the other being Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. Speaking with CinemaBlend, Mr. Beall addressed the massive gator's existence by first giving the following explanation as to how this sequence was created in the first place:
That was a group effort because I had an alligator farm and an alligator set piece, like what unfolds, earlier in my script. It was kind of a midpoint set-piece. And then, this sounds so crazy. It was like a subsequent thing that involved, a little bit like in Live and Let Die. I was like, ‘Somehow they've got, somehow they have Gators and sharks,’ and it's totally like I was trying to do that. And they had the right idea to consolidate 'em, to sort of amalgamate 'em into what they had.
007 fans obviously know where this is going, but I can run through a simple description for the uninitiated. In the first of Roger Moore’s James Bond movies, Live and Let Die, Commander Bond squares off against the villainous Dr. Kanaga (Yaphet Kotto); a.k.a. “Mr. Big.” One such thrilling scene that takes place in their battle of wits is a moment where James has to escape his adversary’s alligator farm.
You can see part of that sequence for yourself, in the video below:
Given Will Beall's Bond fandom, which he established right at the top of our interview, I’m not surprised that he took this scene as a perfect chance to throw some gator action into Bad Boys: Ride or Die’s third act. And it's probably good that the moment was retrofitted into a finale, because how do you top the Gatorland shootout in this movie?!
Further discussing that moment, the screenwriter -- whose work ranges from Gangster Squad to Zack Snyder’s Justice League -- gave credit where credit was due. And that’s where good old Duke comes in again, as his presence and this third-act shift came courtesy of another party.
The Specific Skills Bad Boys: Ride Or Die Writer Will Beall Also Compliments His Co-Writer For
Further explaining how this Ride or Die scene changed, Will Beall mentioned that co-writer Chris Bremner’s collaboration was key to bringing this gigantic alligator into the mix. And, as he cited that contribution, Beall also shared with CinemaBlend a rather unique skill that helped balance the tone of the fourth entry in the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-led film saga:
So I definitely had gators, and bad guys getting consumed by gators, and including the main bad guy, but I can't take credit for Duke. That was [Chris] Bremner. The other thing about Bremner is, I don't know, I can't think of a writer working today who is capable of pivoting from that kind of broad comedy into drama and intense action. And it's what these movies need, right? He's great at that.
It certainly feels like a kinder, gentler Bad Boys vibe has taken the forefront in the more recent installments. Ride or Die delves into that a little further, thanks to Martin Lawrence’s Marcus having a heart attack in the first act that causes him to reunite with the late Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) for a brief moment in the afterlife. While we see the revived Marcus engaging in risky behavior as a consequence, the laughs also lead to him showing more concern for his partner’s well-being than ever before.
Between Will Beall and Chris Bremner’s skills with character and action, the movie represents another satisfyingly exciting intersection between those two realms. Should the franchise continue to ride beyond this point, here’s hoping that Beall is part of the writer’s room when it does. If only so we can see what other James Bond-inspired tricks he has up his sleeves for further adventures.
If you somehow haven’t seen Bad Boys; Ride or Die, the film is currently in theatrical release. And those of you wanting to revisit 2020’s Bad Boys for Life beforehand only need consult your Hulu subscription to do so.
