Rhea Seehorn’s Bad Boys 4 Character Is So Much More Important Than I Expected

Warning: Major spoilers for Bad Boys: Ride or Die below!I was pleasantly surprised at how important Rhea Seehorn’s character was in Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Summer 2024 hasn’t been kind to many of the big tentpole movies, as the surprise bombing of Furious or The Fall Guy has shown. Thankfully, Bad Boys: Ride or Die’s great Rotten Tomatoes rating and box-office numbers came along to prove audiences will still turn out for an old-fashioned popcorn movie. This shouldn’t have been a surprise considering the Bad Boys movies have always been solid earners, but it shows how the series has managed to stay relevant too.

I’ve been a fan of the series since it began, and can even recall how it transformed Will Smith from the “Fresh Prince” into a movie star almost overnight. In charting the evolution of the saga, I’m shocked at how much it has made audiences care about its heroes too. The third entry deepened the bonds between Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence), and was a surprisingly thoughtful reflection on aging and legacy. Bad Boys 3 also featured Captain Howard’s (Joe Pantoliano) death, which has had repercussions across two movies so far.

Rhea Seehorn Plays Captain Howard’s Daughter Judy In Bad Boys 4

Captain Howard’s death is an integral part of Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Complicating matters is when Mike discovers Howard’s assassin Armando (Jacob Scipio) is his own son. Bad Boys: Ride or Die makes the death of Howard a key plot point, as it’s revealed he was targeted by corrupt officials who wanted him silenced. Mike, Marcus and Armando are then forced to go on the run, with the hunt being led by Rhea Seehorn’s Marshal Judy Howard; in case the name doesn’t offer a big enough clue, Rhea Seehorn’s Judy is the vengeful daughter of the murdered Captain Howard.

I knew coming into Ride or Die that Armando’s redemption arc would play a big part. After all, Armando murdered one of the franchise’s most beloved characters, and even if he was misled, he still pulled the trigger. Introducing Judy immediately upped the stakes. Despite her friendship with Mike and Marcus, Judy wants Armando dead and will stop at nothing to make that happen. In this way, audiences are both invested in Mike and Armando reconnecting and overcoming the past, while sympathizing with Judy on her mission to avenge her father’s murder.

Rhea Seehorn Playing Howard’s Daughter Made Her A Vital Character

Bad Boys continues to honor Captain Howard’s legacy

With Captain Howard, Pantoliano played one of action cinema’s most memorable angry bosses. Despite this, it was clear he and his “bad boys” were close, and far from using his death as cheap shock value, Howard’s loss has ripples in both Bad Boys for Life and Ride or Die. While I wish Judy had been developed more as a character, her presence adds natural tension to the plot. In any other action movie, we’d be cheering Judy on to catch Armando and avenge Howard; Ride or Die makes that traditional dynamic more complicated.

I think Bad Boys: Ride or Die’s ending pays this off beautifully when Armando rescues Judy’s own kidnapped daughter. This leaves her with the option of killing Armando and avenging Howard, which would also mean murdering the man who risked his life to save her child. The last two Bad Boys have focused on character over action, and I feel the resolution of both Judy and Armando’s arcs is beautifully done in Ride or Die. The latter redeems himself about as much as he possibly can while Judy learns to let go of her grief and anger.

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

Writers

Chris Bremner

Cast

Will Smith , Martin Lawrence , Vanessa Hudgens , Alexander Ludwig , Paola Núñez , Eric Dane , Ioan Gruffudd , Tasha Smith

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