In Bad Boys for Life, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, are challenged by a vindictive villain that pushes them through treacherous adventures. Much like the narrative that is depicted in the song "No Sudden Movement" by Five Finger Death Punch. Both pieces of entertainment capture the emotions of an individual that must make a quick-witted decision under pressure. This article details the musical and lyrical content of the song, when related to the film.
In Bad Boys for Life, Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) get wrapped up in a vindictive murder ploy while also struggling with the fact that they are past their prime age. Within the bike chase scene, Marcus is found questioning his faith, while Mike is attempting to be the catalyst to push out Marcus’ indecisiveness. Marcus is stubborn when Mike advises him to shoot the gun for the safety of them both, but Mike reassures Marcus that the gun is a gift from god within the treacherous situation. With the reassurance from Mike, Marcus fires the heavy semi-automatic with little remorse, knowing his morals are valid. “No Sudden Movement” by Five Finger Death Punch emotes the same under pressure energy as the bike chase scene, which is why I chose to relate them together. The song describes the narrative of a man who feels pressured to make a quick decision to kill his wolf like nemesis. The main verses shows Mikes reservations against the bad guys, while the chorus serves to show Mikes reassurance to Marcus within his indecisiveness. The progressive drum buildup and the accompaniment of the bass help to establish the high energy introduction of “No Sudden Movement”. With the aggressive haste that the drums are played with, it leaves room for the guitar to create the melody. While the bass and drums are played in conjunction with one another, the rhythm guitar and lead guitar create the distinctive melody that helps set up the chorus. As the heavy drum and bass progression leads into the melody, the guitars line up perfectly with the lyrics “Nowhere to hide, click, clack, reload, click, clack, unload”. Leaving a fill right before the last “unload” of the first chorus, emphasizing the onomatopoeia. A guitar solo is intertwined with the drums as the instrumentals progress into the climax of the bridge. The overall progressive drums and guitar narrates the restless emotions of being under pressure.
As Mike and Marcus navigate their uncharted terror, the scene progressively takes a turn for the better. Within “No Sudden Movement” the same type of progression is heard as the all the instruments combine to aide to the lyrics. As the duos impending doom is approaching them, the scene becomes more and more chaotic, with Marcus decision to fire, causing a lengthy arms chase. A slowmotion shot occurs when Mike is firing his gun while driving, it creates tense scene in which the music can be directly related to. As there is a break after the first chorus lyric “click, clack, unload”, it emotes the same intensity that the slowmotion scene does. Within the scene where Mike and Marcus approach the highway, they are met with their nemesis firing a bazooka, prompting a quick decision to split the car. At 2:40 in both the scene and the music a crescendo occurs. In which the climax of the arms battle occurs, the backing drums create a
pertinent sound for the last verse of the chorus. As Mike decides to split the carbuggy, the instrumentals slowly pave the way for the final aggressive handed chorus.
The lyrics to “No Sudden Movement” by Five Finger Death Punch, matches up perfectly with the bike chase scene from Bad Boys for Life. In that, it captures the similar qualities of indecisiveness and quick-wittedness in an individual dealing with a treacherous challenge. As Marcus is struggling with his moral capacity to shoot a gun at 0:48, the lyric says, “I dare not say what I want to say” leading into “No sudden movement, No sudden moves”. This combination of the lyric and the scene is presented when Marcus is debating with Mike whether or not he can shoot the gun. Mikes response can be heard as “No sudden movement, no sudden moves”, he reassures Marcus that he will be moral content if he chooses to shoot. The verses of “No Sudden Movement” mimics the doubt and weariness of Marcus, while the chorus emotes the agile characteristics of Mike.
While watching this particular scene of Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in the film "Bad Boys for Life" all I could think of was moving in life at a fast pace and not knowing what is ahead of you. That is why I believe the song "No Sudden Movement" is the perfect matchup for that scene! The hard rock and bad boy type characters that Smith and Lawrence play, match perfectly with the music and lyrics. Smith and Lawrence are depicted as aggressive throughout the film, and not giving up a challenge until its completed. The hard rock instrumentals helps to emote the energy and life that is within the scene.
