Posted in: Dreamworks, Kaitlyn Booth, Movies, Review, Universal | Tagged: The Bad Guys 2

The Bad Guys 2 Review: A Familiar Story But This Heist Has Heart

The Bad Guys 2 isn't quite as good as the first film, but that's mostly because it's very similar to the first one and doesn't do a ton to elevate its own material.

The Bad Guys 2 isn't as good as the first film, but it's still a pretty good time at the movies. It's an animated family film that makes an effort to truly appeal to multiple demographics.

Directors: Pierre Perifel and JP Sans
Summary: The Bad Guys are struggling to find trust and acceptance in their newly minted lives as Good Guys, when they are pulled out of retirement and forced to do "one last job" by an all-female squad of criminals.

Earlier this month, Paramount Pictures released Smurfs, and it was a perfect example of a kids' movie that thought so little of children that they couldn't handle any story with depth. Dreamworks might not have the streak of Pixar in terms of quality, but they have been much more consistent in the last couple of years with their output, and The Bad Guys was absolutely part of the better crop of Dreamworks films. It's a heist movie for kids and also leans into that concept of predator and prey that many other properties have done to explain to kids the concept of good and evil. It was funny, animated beautifully, and it did not talk down to the kids in the audience. The creators believed in the kids enough that they could understand most of the concepts that were being thrown at them, and the movie was better for it. The Bad Guys 2 more or less does the same thing as the first one, which isn't a bad thing, but it's also a shame because there was so much room for improvement.

The Bad Guys 2 is lowkey tackling a very real issue within the criminal justice system, which is that convicted felons often face a society unwilling to give them a second chance, even though they have done their time and had their rehabilitation. You can't get a job, so you end up with no other choice than to turn back to crime, and the recidivism rate skyrockets. We see our titular Bad Guys going through this exact problem as they are trying to enter society again, and it's framed in a way that adults will understand the real parallels, while younger members of the audience will see a lesson about the concept of forgiveness and how hard it can be to earn it. It works really well, but it's also a different angle on the story from the first film. They're covering new material, but it feels incredibly similar to the first film, even broken down to its basic story.

The animation is beautiful, and the cell-shaded look that Dreamworks has been leaning into for a couple of films now has helped produce some of its most beautiful films so far. The world continues to benefit from Into the Spider-Verse, forcing every other studio, even the ones that were making excellent movies long before Spider-Verse, to step up their game because people expect better from their animated films now, and that's awesome. The Bad Guys 2 also doesn't overstay its welcome, coming in at a nice 1 hour and 45 minutes, but it also isn't forcing itself into that 90-minute window. Another thing people seem to think is that kids won't sit through long movies, but if they are engaged, time will cease to matter to them. It's just another way that studios look down at a massive demographic of audience members that they are also desperately trying to appeal to.

The Bad Guys 2 is also taking advantage of that PG rating over just a straight G rating. It means that the variety of jokes ranges from an extended fart joke involving space suits to some rather racy-sounding humor in other parts of the film. However, it's not inappropriate and just shows that the writers wanted to make sure there was something in this film for everyone. The writing is elevated by the voice performances as everyone does a really good job of bringing these human and nonhuman characters to life. These might be talking animals, but the voice actors do such a good job that you believe they fit right into this world, which also seems to feature a ton of humans as well.

The Bad Guys 2 isn't quite as good as the first film, but that's mostly because it's very similar to the first one and doesn't do a ton to elevate its own material. More of something that was already pretty damn good is not a bad thing, but considering the potential here in terms of story, they could have taken it in a different direction. These films are based on a series of books, but it's unclear just how closely they are following the source material regarding the films. It's always good to see a studio realizing that kids aren't small, stupid adults, and this film is shining a light on a very real flaw in our justice system.

Maybe The Bad Guys 2 will get more people to watch the first one, which was criminally underrated and not nearly enough people went to see. There are a couple of shorts out there as well. Dreamworks low-key has a franchise opportunity here, but if you want something that is a true cultural juggernaut, you have to go above and beyond with each subsequent film. They pulled it off once with How to Train Your Dragon; there's no reason they can't do it again here.

The Bad Guys 2

---

Review by Kaitlyn Booth

---

7.5/10

The Bad Guys 2 isn't as good as the first film, but it's still a pretty good time at the movies. It's an animated family film that makes an effort to truly appeal to multiple demographics.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!