A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Bad Guys 2” (2025, 4*, PG).
I’m not actually sure that I ever saw “The Bad Guys” from 2022. I certainly never reviewed it, so that’s probably a “no”. But that didn’t detract at all from me going to see this sequel which does seem to manage to pull off that neat trick of appealing to both kids and parents alike. If Dreamworks can still release entertaining animated fare like this, then I can forgive them for filling their coffers a little with live-action ‘re-imaginings’ like the recent “How To Train Your Dragon“. (Although, to be fair, that was a good one and still seems to be doing good business in cinemas.)
Plot:
‘The Bad Guys’ have turned over a new leaf and are trying to be ‘The Good Guys’ for a change. But Mr Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell) is finding that no-crime doesn’t pay as he finds it hard to get a steady job. This is made all the harder when suspicion falls on the gang again when thefts of artifacts made of ‘McGuffinite’ start escalating and the heists have all the hallmarks of the infamous ex-cons.
Certification:
UK: PG; US: PG. (From the BBFC web site: “Mild violence, threat, rude humour”.)
Talent:
Starring: (Voice talents of) Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, Maria Bakalova, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade, Lilly Singh, Alex Borstein,
Omid Djalili.
Directed by: Pierre Perifel & JP Sans.
Written by: Yoni Brenner & Etan Cohen. (From the books by Aaron Blabey).
Running Time: 1h 44m.
Summary:
Positives:
- Terrific animation, especially in the dramatic Mission Impossible-style pre-title sequence.
- A genuinely entertaining story that will be understood by kids and appreciated by adults.
- A good mix of action and prat-falls for the kids and fun jokes for the drag-along adults.
Negatives:
- The physics of re-entry are highly suspect!
Full Review of “The Bad Guys 2”:
An opening that made me go “Wow”!
Before we head into the “Good Guys” story, we flip back 5 years for another episode of criminal insanity. This is based in Cairo and sees Mr Wolf and the gang conducting a daring raid on the penthouse residence of ‘The Billionaire’ (Omid Djalili). It starts with some superb high power zooms from outside of Cairo through the streets to the penthouse itself.
Now I know this is easier to do in animation than in live footage. But it still had a real ‘wow’ factor for me. We then have the team performing elaborate tricks inside the building – “couldn’t we just use the front door?”, LOL – while Mr Wolf parachutes in, Tom Cruise-style, directly into the penthouse, his jump-suit ripping off to reveal a perfect white tux underneath. It’s very impressive and sets the tone for the animation to follow.
As with the Spider-verse films, the animators are not afraid to get creative in the animation styles used and at certain moments we break out of the ‘traditional’ style into something more retro and ‘out there’. It works well.
Jokes for the kids; jokes for the adults.
This is a funny film that smashed the ‘6-laughs’ test for me. For the kids, there are the necessary chases, prat-falls and fart jokes (bringing special meaning about a gag being “as funny as a fart in a spacesuit”!). But for the adults there are lots of very funny visual jokes and knowing script elements. Richard Ayoade is very droll as the evil mastermind Professor Rupert Marmalade IV and a prison meeting with him is filmed in an identical way to Clarice’s first meeting with Hannibal Lector in “The Silence of the Lambs” (with an extra helping of ‘Connect 4’!).
An unlikely courtship between Mr Snake (Mark Maron) and Doom (Natasha Lyonne) – or ‘snaky cakes’ and ‘sugar beak’ as they sickeningly call each other – is also very funny. There’s a nod to Hitchcock in the naming of the Gold-attracting magnet-material ‘McGuffinite’. And it’s surely no coincidence that the acronym on the prison facility is “S.U.C.M.” – how rude!
A satisfying story of crime and redemption.
Where the story really works on an emotional level is in feeling the helplessness of these bad characters turned good, in being forced to work for the villainous puma Kitty Kat (a suitably purring Danielle Brooks) and her side-kicks, the crow Doom (Natasha Lyonne) and the wild boar Pigtail (Maria Bakalova). You feel their frustration at being framed and never being able to catch a break until such time as their heroics get them (semi-posthumously) recognised.
Even Dianne Foxington (Zazie Beetz), aka ‘The Crimson Paw’, faces reputational peril. She has the potential for her safe life as a respected Governor to be ripped away: this is done through a surprisingly tense data upload scene, very similar to the ‘NOC list’ scene from the original “Mission: Impossible”.
Zero gold is coming back!
Where the film stretches any form of credibility is in the treatment of re-entry. In the film’s conclusion, all of the gold in the world has been snatched up by the satellite-bourne McGuffinite-powered magnet. But the stash is then exploded and gold goes in ALL directions. Now, notwithstanding the fact that 95% of the gold will be either flung off into the dark reaches of space or, perhaps at best, put into orbit, the other 5% will re-enter the earth’s atmosphere in an uncontrolled way. Meteorites are said to reach temperatures of over 1700°C (over 3100°F). The melting point of gold is 1,064°C. So it might make for some pretty shooting stars, but that will be about it!
I know I’m being picky (when – yeah – we’ve already seen a wolf, a snake, a shark, a tarantula and a piranha hanging off the side of a launching rocket). But kids learn science through osmosis… and they also learn anti-science that way too.
A kid’s eye view.
But that’s just my view. What do kids think of it. Here are two of my goofball grandkids – Frankie aged 10 and Eva aged 8 – with their audio views:
Monkeys?
Yes, there are monkeys. A slightly random and unexplained one in the mid-credits implies the return of Professor Rupert Marmalade (Richard Ayoade) in the inevitable “Bad Guys 3”. And there is a very, very brief additional one at the very end of the credits featuring Mr Snake which is really, really not worth waiting for!
Summary Thoughts on “The Bad Guys 2″
The movies can be a great way to spice up the summer holidays for kids. But many animated films can be a real drag for parents to have to sit through, particularly when you can’t look at your phone in the dark cinema. (YOU DON’T?? DO YOU??!!) But “The Bad Guys 2” is no such trial-by-Smurfdom. (No, my “watch everything” policy does NOT stretch to the new Smurfs movie, unless there happens to be a very small grandchild who wants to!) Here, Dreamworks Animation have produced a lively, exciting and very funny movie that I enjoyed very much indeed.
Where to watch?
Trailer for “The Bad Guys 2″:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY1lWh20VSw.
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