The Bad Guys 2

The now-reformed Bad Guys are trying (very, very hard) to be good, but instead find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes, globe-trotting heist, masterminded by a new team of criminals they never saw coming: The Bad Girls.

Well you know that old saying about no good deed going unpunished. The guys are desperately trying to stay on the straight and narrow but someone is out to set them up. Their only route to salvation would appear to be to give up their new shiny haloes and start working with the dastardly “Kitty Kat” who has a cunning plan to turn a spaceship into a giant magnet that can collect all the gold from the face of the planet. Even the burgeoning romance that might (or might not) be going on between “Fox” and mayor “Diane” is unlikely to stop the police commissioner from getting them behind bars once again. They’ve got their work cut out for them, and as everyone knows - there’s no one scorned like a cat in heels! It reminded me a bit of one of the early “Mission Impossible” films, with the emphasis on the gadgets and the scenarios, but not really on the characterisations. Aside from a little wolf/fox mischief the whole thing just followed an all too predicable pattern of out of the pan into the fire escapades that can only ever really lead to “Bad Guys 3”. The animation is great and there is plenty of action, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by the originality of any of this and I couldn’t help but wish that they were just plain, out-and-out, bad again. All this goody-goody stuff changes the dynamic between the critters, and not in an enjoyable way. My own favourite, “Tarantula” doesn’t feature nearly enough and there’s also an awful lot of dialogue. I might just be desensitised to these animated crime capers now, but this just didn’t do anything for me. Sorry.

The Bad Guys 2 begins with a heist in Cairo, Egypt, five years prior, where we see how Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell) acquired his trademark black car. In the present day and after the events of the first film, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and Ms. Tarantula/Webs (Awkwafina) all struggle to find jobs. They’ve all gone good and no longer pull off heists, but have recently been rumored to have gone bad again because a new thief known as the Phantom Bandit is framing them at every scene of the crime. Meanwhile, Mr. Snake (Marc Maron) is suspiciously happy, relaxed, and barely around. Mr. Wolf and his friends are roped into one final job by a snow leopard named Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks) and her team, consisting of a Bulgarian wild boar engineer named Pigtail (Maria Bakalova) and a sarcastically deceitful raven named Doom (Natasha Lyonne). This new group of female criminals has dirt on current mayor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), and Wolf will do everything he can to keep her safe, even if it means going back to prison. The Bad Guys had killer animation and an incredible voice cast, but the issue was that the film was massively predictable, even if you didn’t read the books. The chemistry amongst the cast drove the film, but the humor was so-so. The animation was an incredible blend of 2D and 3D animation, and while the film’s style had similarities with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, visually, no other animated film looked like it. As a sequel, The Bad Guys 2 expands on just about everything the original film did. While the animation is the same style, it explores vast new territories, whereas even something as simple as a car chase feels more impressive. The Cairo opening of the film (which is also Webs’s first job) features a car chase between The Bad Guys and what appears to be the entire Cairo police force. The chase includes driving on walls, releasing a bunch of caged chickens, driving in reverse in a roundabout, and the entire police force having to all ride on one motorcycle because all of their other vehicles were destroyed. The animated heist comedy sequel also has big moments in a lucha libre wrestling ring and even travels to space for a massive finale. The lucha libre material allows for so much fluorescent and dramatic lighting, which results in some really eye-catching visuals between hydraulic bouncing low-riders and dynamic character introductions. Going to space allows typical physics to not be an element anymore, which sees anti-gravity enter the picture. Mr. Piranha’s nervous flatulence is taken to Rocketman (the 1997 Harland Williams movie) extremes, and it’s great. The sequence where Mr. Wolf and his buddies jump onto the MoonX rocket that has already launched is crazy and feels like something ripped straight out of one of the Mission: Impossible films. It moves at an accelerated pace, the gang has to think fast and use all of their animal attributes to stay on the rocket as its many sections keep falling into the atmosphere, and the sequence amplifies what is already a thrilling and inventive use of camera perspectives. The humor in the film feels way more adult this time around, too, especially when it comes to Mr. Snake’s new romance with his girlfriend, Susan. When they kiss, Snake tries to swallow her entire head, which is already disturbing. But there’s a lock-picking sequence where Mr. Snake is describing what he’s doing, and it’s blatant innuendo. Mr. Wolf drives a hatchback car (like a Toyota Tercel) in the present day that smokes, sputters, and is on its last legs. The gang is broke now, with a constant barrage of eviction and past due notices arriving daily. As Mr. Wolf is parking before a job interview, someone drives past him and calls him a jackass. This is a completely fair term when donkeys are probably a part of this anthropomorphic world somewhere, but it's not the friendliest term for a family film. A frustrating aspect of the film is that The Bad Guys have to prove themselves yet again. They went good and had this big production of Professor Marmalade’s (Richard Ayoade) downfall. So the fact that they have to do it all over again is a bit redundant. The sequel does a solid job of portraying why Mr. Wolf and his friends could be The Bad Guys again to the public eye, but it’s lame how quickly everyone turns on them. The Bad Guys 2 is bigger, badder, and funnier than its predecessor. The gags are wilder and more creative, the jokes land and make you laugh, and the new characters are just as intriguing as the familiar ones. Unique locations in the film allow the animation to construct some of the most visually impressive and charismatically animated sequences of the year, as well. Being a good guy has never felt so rewarding and entertaining.

The gang of animated outlaws returns for “The Bad Guys 2,” a sequel that ups the ante with its sharper, more character-driven story. This time around, the film leans more toward a stylized crime caper than a mindless kiddie cartoon, resulting in a grittier, slightly darker tone than expected. After spending years being very, very bad, criminals Wolf (voice of Sam Rockwell), Snake (voice of Marc Maron), Tarantula (voice of Awkwafina), Shark (voice of Craig Robinson), and Piranha (voice of Anthony Ramos) are trying to go straight. The group of friends soon learn that it’s not so easy to navigate a world that’s not keen on giving second chances. Despite their best efforts, their new “Good Guy” lives are quickly upended when they’re dragged back into the world of high-stakes heists by a slick all-female crew known as The Bad Girls. What unfolds is a globe-trotting mission full of twists, trust issues, and one very elaborate criminal scheme. Thematically, the film has more on its mind than most animated fare. It explores whether true change is possible and honestly depicts the struggle to shed the labels of your past. There’s a surprising amount of emotional weight beneath all the action and antics, particularly in how the characters grapple with acceptance, identity, and redemption in a society that already has its mind made up about them. The film visually delivers with stylish animation and action scenes that are fluid, fast, and impressively staged. The diverse voice cast is excellent across the board, breathing energy and nuance into the characters without slipping into caricature. These aren’t generic animated archetypes, but characters that are flawed, funny, and fully realized. Of course, the movie does require a healthy suspension of disbelief. This is a world where talking animals and humans coexist without much explanation, and while the film doesn’t bother justifying it, most viewers probably won’t mind. Still, some of the more absurd plot elements (including the villain’s big evil plan and a trip into space on the back of a rocket) will stretch the patience of some kids and most adults. While it’s marketed as a family film, this one definitely skews older. Younger children might find it too long, too talky, or just too dark. There’s a more mature tone here than the first film, making it more of a heist thriller than a forgettable Saturday morning cartoon. With a satisfying ending that sets up potential future installments, “The Bad Guys 2” is a sequel that dares to deepen its characters and themes rather than just replaying the laziest hits (okay, there are a few lowbrow fart jokes, but at least they’re funny and aren’t out of context). The film is stylish, smart, occasionally silly, and a welcome shift away from typical animated fluff. It may not be for all ages, but for fans of animated films that aim a little higher, this is one bad crew worth rooting for. By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS