“I played softball growing up,” said Carrie Hobson, who wrote, directed and executive produced the series with Michael Yates. “Inspired by that experience, we felt fast-pitch softball was the perfect backdrop for the show. There are so many facets to playing sports that I love—it can bring out the best and worst of a person, the calmest person can lose their temper. And when it comes to winning and losing—the consequences are nothing, and yet, they’re everything. We really felt like it was the best arena for the themes we loved.”

According to Yates, the idea of spotlighting different perspectives was born of everyday life at Pixar. “Carrie and I were officemates on ‘Toy Story 4,’” he said. “We were both story artists on the film, and we would talk about a lot of things going on in the film, as well as things going on in the world—current events, news. We would always have different reactions or different interpretations of the same meeting. One of us would say, ‘That went great!’ and the other would say, ‘No! It was terrible, what are you talking about?’ We realised that our own experiences that we bring to the table change our perception of an event. We wanted to tell a story that illustrated all of that.”

“Win or Lose” features the voices of Will Forte, Rosie Foss, Josh Thomson, Milan Elizabeth Ray, Rosa Salazar, Dorien Watson, Izaac Wang, Chanel Stewart, Lil Rel Howery, Melissa Villaseñor, Jo Firestone, Flula Borg, Kyleigh Curran, Jaylin Fletcher, Erin Keif, Tom Law, Beck Nolan, Orion Tran and Rhea Seehorn. The series, which presents incredibly funny, very emotional and uniquely animated perspectives, is produced by David Lally, includes music by composer Ramin Djawadi and original songs by CAMPFIRE and Djawadi.
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The two quipsters are on the hunt for the behind-the-scenes scoundrels that are sullying the reputation of their late boss, Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano). This of course spins things out into epic proportions. The night lights and pulsating colours of the Magic City play the backdrop as before and help to illuminate and excite the action. Fancy cars burn rubber and armed bad guys pop caps.

The pacing is a bit inconsistent as the plot slows down occasionally to show the changed dynamics between Lower and Burnet as the latter discovers new depths to his existence. Some of the jokes land, others do not but it’s reaffirming that the filmmakers have tried to alter the formula just enough to give the film a life of its own. This is done in such a way as not to alienate new viewers to the franchise.

Surprisingly structured (in the confines of a popcorn flick), Bad Boys: Ride or Die is different and entertaining enough to hopefully bring some new fans into the fold. The two hours fly by in a fun and frivolous way and even though little impact is felt in the grey matter, you do have a rollicking good time and feel as if the time was well spent living in that whimsical and imaginary world.
Rob Hudson
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