DreamWorks Animation’sThe Bad Guystries its best to blend the heist/caper films of the ‘80s and ‘90s in a way that will still entertain younger viewers while indulging the older crowd. It starts strong with an intro action sequence that evokesPulp Fictionand has a slick sense of style, but once the film gets to its “meat” things start to fall apart. For as much as the film tries to offer something unique with its style and animation,The Bad Guys’ story hits some mostly predictable beats.
The story centers on a troupe of animal thieves living amongst humans. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Snake (Marc Maron), Shark (Craig Robinson), Spider (Awkwafina), and Piranha (Anthony Ramos) regularly commit crimes in Los Angeles and effortlessly escape police capture. It’s never explained why a few talking animals live in a mostly human city or what they hope to gain through continuous villainy. It only makes sense that Wolf would be a bad guy in order to keep in line with the Big Bad Wolf motif.
The film establishes that these five have a history of successful heists and revel in the bad guy lifestyle. It’s cookie-cutter but it works well enough for establishing a baseline for these characters. Eventually, as one might expect, the bad guys are forced to become good guys after a big heist goes wrong. The initial plan is just to feign a change of moral code, of course, but some members of the group start to enjoy the good guy lifestyle.
The Bad Guysdoes its best to balance dialogue heavy character development with some cool animated action, but it struggles to set a consistent tone. For adults, the way the film follows the tropes of a heist movie is telegraphed well in advance, but for kids they might be surprised by the various twists and turns. The film is at its best when it is trying to incorporate genre elements into a family-friendly animated movie, even if it might lean a little more mature. However, once it becomes clear how the narrative is going to unfold, most will see that the concept behind the film only gets it so far.
Stylistically,The Bad Guyshas some sharp animation that looks like a 3D comic book with dark outlines around the prominent characters. It’s a unique visual style and it helps the film stand out from the pack in terms of its look. There is also a great sense of energy to the action sequences, which play fast and loose with the laws of physics. When the film is moving, audiences should be engaged enough to be entertained, even if the action is fairly sparse.
The cast forThe Bad Guysconsists of actors that are most known for either comedic roles or being actual comedians. It’s surprising, then, how little of the film is actually funny. There are some gags that might get a laugh out of kids but there isn’t much in the way of clever writing or line delivery. The roles feel mostly phoned in and the chemistry between the characters is barely there.
The Bad Guysflirts with a concept that’s cleverer than its end result. A riff on Ocean’s Eleven and Pulp Fiction with talking animated animals may have gone over younger moviegoers’ heads, but it at least would have made the film different. As it stands, the only thing that really sets the film apart from the mid-tier animated films is a slick art style and some flashy sequences. Everything else is fairly rote and worth a rental but not a theater visit.
The Bad Guysis in theaters now.
The Bad Guys
The Bad Guys is a DreamWorks animated movie based on Aaron Blabey’s children’s book series. Starring Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, and Anthony Ramos, the 2022 film follows a group of animal villains, including a wolf, a snake, a shark, and a piranha, who decide to turn good guys and save the world.
