THE BAD GUYS 2 – Review by Valerie Kalfrin
The Bad Guys 2 is good silly fun—certainly at matinee price.
This sequel to 2022’s The Bad Guys, the DreamWorks Animation Studios hit about a crackerjack team of criminal animals who opt to change their ways, is a breezy mix of kooky characters and madcap action. While it doesn’t have the thematic depth of other DreamWorks animated films such as this year’s Dog Man and 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, it’s an Ocean’s 11-style caper with fur, fins, and scales that left the youngsters at my screening laughing.
When we last left Wolf, Snake, Shark, Piranha, and Tarantula, they’d decided to strut, scurry, and slither along the straight and narrow for a change. After a flashback to a heist during their wicked heyday, Wolf (Sam Rockwell, The White Lotus) confides in a fourth-wall break that crime paid a whole lot better.
They’re sticking to staying good, even though he and his cohorts live in an LA storm drain with windows, an elevator, and helpful mail delivery for the “Past Due” bills. They’re hard-pressed to find legit jobs, something that doesn’t seem to bother the often-hangry Snake (Marc Maron, Stick), who’s now taken up pottery and yoga. Sure, the governor, Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz, The Dutchman), believes they’ve reformed, but others are skeptical. Who can blame the bank manager for not trusting the ones who have robbed the place?
The film’s world of humans living alongside anthropomorphic animals is a little odd for anyone expecting one over the other, but the screwball energy carries the day. The team tries to win over police commissioner Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein, Family Guy), offering to help crack a series of heists involving the wink-and-a-nod metal MacGuffinite, but it isn’t long before they’re framed and meeting a clutch of bad gals.
Much of the charm and comedy stems from the clever character designs and voice talent. As Wolf, the suit-wearing mastermind, Rockwell combines the suaveness of George Clooney with his own loose-limbed groove. Raring for action, Piranha (Anthony Ramos, Twisters) wriggles through small spaces unless nervous flatulence gives him away. Shark (Craig Robinson, Big Mouth), a master of disguise with one large mustache, delivers karate chops when he panics, then stomps on his embarrassed tail. And Tarantula (Awkwafina, Black Mirror) is a hacking whiz, clacking away on any keyboard. I liked how she sits on the threads connecting leads on Misty’s corkboard, a few legs crossed while she gestures.
A snow leopard named Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks, A Minecraft Movie) leads the bad gals, including a sunny boar named Pigtail (Maria Bakalova, Creature Commandos) and a sly raven named Doom (Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face), whose lack of scruples makes Snake swoon. As Kitty finagles the Bad Guys into working with them, how she frames her past makes Wolf again wonder whether the bad life might have been better.
Given the intended audience, that’s not much in doubt, but the script by returning screenwriter Etan Cohen and Yoni Brenner (Ice Age: Collision Course) deserves credit for at least asking the question. Returning director Pierre Perifel, sharing co-directing duties with animator JP Sans (Ruby Gilman: Teenage Kraken), times the sight gags and flourishes well, with action and humor that’s clear to follow, even as it defies logic and physics.
The Bad Guys 2 wraps up with loyal friendships, warm hues, cool sunglasses, and a catchy end credits song from Rag’n’Bone Man that sees the team bound for better things. It’s a cheery lark that’s hard to resist, the good life indeed.
