Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the fourth in the buddy-cop franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Does it have the same magic 30 years after the first episode?
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Opinion-makers are united in the view that former biggest star in the world Will Smith needs to pull something out of the hat.
In this case it's the fourth Bad Boys with Martin Lawrence - Ride or Die.
The original Bad Boys was concocted by the bad boys of Hollywood - producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson and director Michael Bay - to cash in on the success of the then biggest stars on TV - comedians Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
The latest, with only Bruckheimer on board this time, seems to be designed to rehabilitate the reputation of Smith after his, shall we say, patchy experience at the Oscars last year.
Getting an Oscar for King Richard and being virtually cancelled in the space of about an hour is no mean feat.
But to the credit of the bigwigs of Sony Pictures, they're now prepared to throw everything at the comeback film Ride or Die.
"Ride or die" - for people who can't be bothered looking it up - means two people who are very loyal to each other, apparently.
Like long-time cop buddies Mike and Marcus - Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Mike's task is to keep Marcus on a diet.
Marcus is distracted - first by a greasy hotdog, then by a robbery in progress.
Fortunately Mike is, er, Ride Or Die and takes care of business, thus establishing the tone.
Speaking of establishing the tone, I should point out there's rather more swearing than I expected. Will Smith was famously one of the clean hiphop rappers, before he turned into a family-friendly TV and movie star.
Still, bad boys, what you gonna do?
Anyway no sooner has Mike married the lovely Kelly when news comes out that their old Captain - who got killed in the last Bad Boys movie - has been accused of being corrupt - or as they invariably say in this sort of film "dirty".
This is a shock to Captain Howard's daughter Josie and grand-daughter Callie. Kelly... Callie... I got confused too, particularly when one of them gets kidnapped.
Mike and Marcus are also distraught. The Captain, after all, was like a father to them.
Which may have given the producers to borrow from Hamlet. The ghost of Captain Howard sends them a message from beyond the grave.
Corruption in the Miami Police Force? Surely not. Is it Kelly? Or possible Callie?
Personally I'm always suspicious of a high-riding politician, particularly one played by a British actor, the gentlemanly Ioan Gruffudd, a long way from his stint as the noble Hornblower.
The Bad Boys take off on a mission to save the Captain's name, while other bad guys chase them, shoot at them and set out to frame them.
They're also under attack by a script with more coincidences, unlikely twists, laboured humour and wildly over-the-top action scenes than ever before. It's a Jerry Bruckheimer film, what can I say?
Some effort is made to touch base with elements of previous Bad Boys movies, though my memory of the 1995 one, the 2003 one and the one from 2020 is a little vague.
To be honest, all I really remember is the theme song.
But they were all hugely profitable at the time - allowing Jerry Bruckheimer to call in all sorts of favours in Ride or Die.
Like when Mike and Marcus are on the run with Mike's convict son Armando - it's too complicated to explain - they run into some rednecks who demand - again, don't ask - that they sing a song by Reba McEntire.
And they get the country star to sing it in the movie! This was my favourite 20 seconds in the movie. This is really not saying much, I have to say.
Remember Snoop Dogg's line in another buddy cop movie Starsky and Hutch?
"You've gone up a notch in my book," he said. "That takes you to Notch One."
People who care about such things seem to think that Bad Boys: Ride or Die may not do much for the King Richard audience. But it seems to be doing well enough among the ride or die Bad Boys crowd.