Directed by Pierre Perifel, The Bad Guys 2 follows the crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws who are struggling to find trust and acceptance in their newly minted lives as Good Guys. However, they’re pulled out of retirement and forced to do “one last job” by an all-female squad of criminals who are labeled as “The Bad Girls”.
The first film was a genuine surprise that got me back into Dreamworks films with its fun characters, solid messages, gorgeous animation, and being an overall great caper film with an Ocean’s 11 kind of style to it. This was also one of the first Dreamworks films in a long time that I was open to seeing a sequel, which leads to this second installment that follows the lovable group of misfits in a new caper. Did this sequel live up to the goodness of its predecessor or does it fall down hard in quality like previous Dreamworks sequels of the past?
Personally, I feel that The Bad Guys 2 is a very thrilling and more mature sequel that goes big and loud in the best ways possible, while also delivering endless fun and stunning animation that is worth seeing on the big screen. While it may not be thematically as strong as its predecessor it still has a lot to offer to be invested in and I feel it also improves upon the first film in some ways that audiences will like, especially for the people who enjoyed these characters and their story to begin with.
For starters, the animation feels vastly improved and expanded upon compared to the first film, as it uses the same 2D/3D hybrid animation as before but leans way more heavily into the colorful children’s book like aesthetic of the source material to give it more flair and fun. There is more detail in the characters and the surroundings, more fluidity in the movements and action, humorous uses of drawings and colors used throughout the film, and an overall feeling of increased size and scale compared to before.
Dreamworks has certainly come a long way from its outdated animation of the past, embracing this particular animation style for all their films but managing to give each a unique identity based on the story and characters. It’s visually pleasing to look at all around and certainly deserved to be displayed on the big screen, as well as looks amazing when watching it in 3D. The action is also glorious to witness with truly amazing thrills and intense sequences that feel bigger and better compared to its predecessor.
The voice cast of returning characters and newcomers are absolutely fantastic across the board, giving their characters so much energy and personality that matches with the new and improved animation. The newly reformed Bad Guys group are all reprised by their original voices and, as expected, they are still perfect in their respective roles. Sam Rockwell returns with his immense charm and cunning as Mr. Wolf, who has given up his life of crime in pursuit of an honest life but struggles to obtain it despite his best efforts. Rockwell gives Wolf so much emotion in his performance, in both the intense and smaller moments that allow you to see the true heart of the character be exposed and therefore make us truly feel for him.
We also get to see a significant evolution of his relationship with Diane Foxington, beautifully reprised by Zazie Beetz, as their electrifying chemistry from the first film blossoms into a more serious romance in this film. You can tell these two really care about each other and will do anything to protect each other but are afraid to fully get together due to their different paths and certain events that occur in the film that threaten to tear them apart.
The rest of the group doesn’t have as much central focus and major development compared to Wolf in this film but that doesn’t stop them from having their own moments to shine, whether it be in the action or smaller moments. Mr. Snake, reprised by Marc Maron, has certainly evolved from his selfish ways of the past as he finds himself in a romance of his own and has definitely not lost his own brand of humor. While he isn’t as focused on in this film as he was in the first he still has his own fun moments to shine throughout, mostly thanks to the action and the great performance Maron gives to him.
Craig Robinson wonderfully reprises the Bad Guys’ master of disguise, Mr. Shark, giving him a lot more funnier scenes in and out of disguise that caught me off guard and made me burst out laughing on occasion.
However, that is nothing compared to the amount of laughs that I had with Mr. Pirahna, who once again proves to be a standout with his unhinged personality and insanely great humor courtesy of Anthony Ramos. He was my favorite supporting standout in the first film and was my favorite supporting standout in this film, especially since he delivers some of the best comedic lines and scenes in the whole film.
Awkwafina reprises Ms Tarantula, and while she certainly does a good job in the role I couldn’t help but notice she was the only member of the group that didn’t get that much screen time or majorly memorable moments compared to the others. Why she ended up getting the short end of the stick in this film is unknown to me, which is strange given she can be a crucial member of the group with her hacking skills.
I was initially concerned we were going to see the gang revert back to their old ways forgetting the lessons and themes they learned in the first film but thankfully that isn’t the case here since they all do feel truly evolved and are progressively trying to be genuine good guys even if they still have their old tendencies from time to time.
Then we have our newcomers in the form of the criminal trio called the Bad Girls, and to be completely honest I feel they were much much better villains compared to Professor Marmalade in the first film, especially with their leader Kitty Kat, voiced amazingly by Danielle Brooks. Marmalade was a decent villain in the first film, though I didn’t necessarily see him as menacing, but that was not the case at all with Kitty Kat who, despite having a silly name, proves to be a stronger and more fearsome foe with the capability of killing someone on the spot if you screw around with her even once. She is a perfect dark reflection of Wolf in many ways, and while the motives driving her actions are simple it’s what she is willing to do to achieve her goals that makes her truly menacing. On top of that, Danielle Brooks delivers her most villainous performance yet, surprising me with how vicious and intimidating she can be after having mostly seen her in comedic roles.
While the other two members aren’t as evil or malicious compared to Kitty, Doom the Raven and Pigtail the Wild Boar were still really fun villains to have join the film and were voiced excellently by Natasha Lyonne and Maria Bakalova respectively. Lyonne delivers a seductive and alluring performance as Doom, while Bakalova delivers a humorous and joyful performance as Pigtail, proving to be great as well as fitting additions to this world of colorful characters.
This film aims to be bigger and better with its narrative and while I don’t feel it quite hits the mark in that goal I still really enjoyed the story we got with this sequel for its endlessly thrilling fun and the surprising turns it takes that were hidden from the marketing. This film does have its expected moments of good and goofy humor but I was surprised to see how much more mature this film felt compared to its predecessor. It doesn’t go as far as Kung Fu Panda 2 or Puss in Boots: The Last Wish in terms of maturity and darkness but it wasn’t afraid to raise the stakes and make some bold choices with permanent consequences that affect the characters forever.
I was under the false impression that certain events that occurred would be simply undone in typical kids’ film fashion but that didn’t turn out to be the case at all and I couldn’t help but feel immense respect for this film sticking with its narrative choices instead of completely undoing them at the end. Not many animated sequels do that these days so this felt like a major breath of fresh air. And like the first film, this film has its own themes, with the most significant among them being how respect doesn’t come from power but has to be earned instead. It’s a simple message that’s not as complex or layered as the messages of the first film but it is still a valuable one that I believe is important to take to heart, especially with everything going on currently in the world. People who make “power moves” as a pitiful way to earn respect only get fear and hatred in return, which is something that can be applied to many real-life situations, so I’m glad to see an animated film highlight this in a unique way. Even if this film didn’t have the exact same impact with the themes and emotions in its narrative like the first film I do feel it is still a solid continuation that does improve on various elements of the first film and has the potential to go even further in the future, especially for how it opens the doors for a potential third installment.
Daniel Pemberton returns to do the music for this film and as expected he delivers another wonderful and zany score to elevate this film in various ways. Given that this film is larger in scale, it makes sense for the music to go just as big as the film does, which it succeeds in doing. There are also a few appropriate songs littered throughout the film, though I’ll admit I do miss Pirahna’s singing from the first film and I wish we got another absolute banger from him.
This film had some elements I prefer over the first film, and some things that made me prefer the first film, but overall I was genuinely satisfied with this sequel after having numerous awful sequels from Dreamworks in the past. It’s clear that they have been learning from all of their past mistakes and are trying to do better with their recent outings, so I expect to see more great projects later down the road. And if there ends up being a third installment of this series that gets made then I am all for it. I’m going to give The Bad Guys 2 an A- = 93.
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