The Bad Guys review
Everyone loves a good redemption story especially when it involves the most irredeemable. The Bad Guys is all good for those seeking a fun, clever film suitable for the entire family.
Bad Guys is adapted from Aaron Blabey’s children’s graphic novel series. It’s got a simple and easily grasped premise.
A group of less than cuddly animals — Wolf, Snake, Pirahna, Shark and Tarantula — have always found it hard to be embraced by society. Instead of going against negative stereotypes they lean into them to become the most notorious and infamous gang in the city.
Like any good crew, everyone brings special talents to pull off their heists. Wolf (Sam Rockwell, Iron Man 2) plans the gig. Snake (Marc Maron, Joker) infiltrates into the hard-to-reach spaces. Shark (Craig Robinson) is a master of disguise, which makes for a hilarious running joke as no one can see through a shark in flimsy disguises.
Tarantula (Awkwafina, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) is a master hacker while Pirahna (Anthony Ramos, Into the Heights) is the wild card, jack-of-all-trades.
Director Pierre Perifel (lead character animator for the underrated Rise of the Guardians) definitely was influenced by the effortless cool tone of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Trilogy. There’s even a mention of Wolf going full-Clooney.
This isn’t the standard animal animation world. Humans and animals co-mingle with no issue. The mayor is a fox — literally — named Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz, Joker).
The film opens with the crew pulling off a simple bank robbery to show off their skills, but they’re intrigued with a job that would cement their legacy. Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade, The Mandalorian) is set to win the city’s most prestigious award for his humanitarian efforts.
Wolf concocts another master plan, but a slight hiccup gets them nabbed by Police Chief Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein, Family Guy). Overeager TV reporter Tiffany Fluffit (Lilly Singh) is right on the scene reporting the biggest story of the year.
With one last trick up his sleeve, Wolf sells Marmalade on redeeming bad guys who never had a fair shot at being anything different. Diane reluctantly agrees while Marmalade attempts to do the impossible in making the bad guys good guys.
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This redemption plot allows for some naturally fun scenarios with Wolf, Snake and crew fighting their instincts to try and do the right thing. For some, like Wolf, the conversion therapy isn’t as bad as they thought. And they might even be getting a warm, tingly feeling from (gasp) being good.
Screenwriters Etan Cohen and Yoni Brenner have fun with the premise. Not every effort from the bad guys works out and some feel like they’re fighting an uphill battle for something they don’t really want.
The film utilizes a different style of animation with more cell shading like that found in video games. This gives The Bad Guys more of a comic book type visual with thicker ink lines around the characters and objects giving a quasi-3D appearance.
There are some clever twists as well, so the film doesn’t follow a boring, predictable path. The only significant misstep is the final act goes against the cool, suave Ocean’s dynamic in favor of more of an over the top comic book showdown that feels out of place.
In the end, it’s a minor style clash for a film that has a lot of charm and clever humor. This weekend would make a great time to enjoy The Bad Guys in action.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Photo Credit: DreamWorks Animation
Check out The Bad Buys paperback series 1-5 on Amazon.
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