The Bad Guys is Dreamworks’s newest feature directed by Pierre Perifel and based on the children’s books of the same name by Aaron Blabey, and at least as the film adaption is concerned it can have an eerily similar feeling to a couple of different properties, but it still blends into something that’s enjoyable original for the most part. I’d be tempted to call this “your baby’s first heist movie”, but it’s sassy and slick enough to hold the attention of a least a portion of the older audience, I’d assume.
It follows the exploits of a gang of talking animal thieves- Sam Rockwell’s Mr. Wolf, Marc Maron’s Mr. Snake, Anthony Ramos’s Mr. Pirahna, Craig Robinson’s goofy big lug Mr. Shark, and Awkafina proving her knack for good voice acting as Ms. Tarantula. Their reputation as villains (and yes, their official team name is The Bad Guys) is so solidified and legendary that they can clear the streets and gleefully rob banks just on arrival. A public insult from the new governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) prompts the team to attempt its biggest job ever, stealing a rare item from noted guinea pig professor Rupert Marmalade (Richard Ayoade).
So this gets them roped into a bizarre experiment on the part of Mr. Marmalade (whose weird hair, condescending demeanor, and jawline have apparently made some people think James Corden was really playing him?). As a recipient of a coveted good guy award, he thinks he can reform the Bad Guys into model citizens- or at least that’s what Mr. Wolf hopes, in order to get the heat off their backs for a while. But then Mr. Wolf actually gives the whole thing some legit thought…
Watching this movie, I felt some vibes that reminded me a ton of Lupin the Third. For any non-anime fans out there, that’s a super-old comic and cartoon from Japan going back to the late 1960s, which also chronicles a master thief hero in a suit with a gangly physical build (Mr. Wolf even has slightly oversized hands close to how Lupin is often drawn), assisted by a diverse crew and pursued by a determined cop, and also has a flirty dynamic with a female lead as does Lupin with his own rival Fujiko Mine. I can’t say definitively or not that Dreamworks was watching Lupin during the making of this (I can update it if I find anything official), but if that was the case I wouldn’t be shocked.
You can expect plenty of frantic action throughout, a bit more slapstick-heavy than most of Disney’s material. One could also find shades of Zootopia and Wreck-It Ralph in terms of some shared themes, about animals with a stigma around them because of looking scary, and villainous characters presumably turning babyface. I especially got more of a Ralph feeling as the story progressed, as Zootopia’s themes with Judy’s story are more focused on progressive-minded people still having some blind spots in their world views. Still, there’s a sleazy suaveness to Sam Rockwell’s performance as Wolf (that can also become vulnerable when the scene calls for it) that makes it understandable why he and other Bad Guy characters are being paired up with Jason Bateman’s foxy con man Nick Wilde in fan art so often.
Alex Bornstein as the police chief Misty Higgins is clearly having a blast in her role, getting to expand beyond being just known for Lois Griffin. Her mission to capture the Bad Guys has major shades of Lupin’s own pursuer Inspector Zenigata, right down to her awareness that she needs the titular anti-heroes to give her life its purpose. If there are any Bad Guy followups down the road, their relationship could easily be developed in the same way Lupin’s and Zenigata’s have been. I felt Marc Maron was particularly good as Snake, who winds up playing a bigger role than is initially advertised.
I noticed how the animals, while they still have pretty toony designs, are a bit more subtle and less rubbery than Higgins and the often wackier human characters. This is especially noticeable with Foxington, who on top of benefiting from a nice performance from Beetz, has expressions and body language rooted in reality next to Lily Singh’s off-the-wall news reporter. It’s an odd aesthetic, but it still fits the kids’ storybook aura they’re aiming for. The animal cast often will have charming touches like whenever Wolf feels good thoughts, his fur starts to fluff up and his tail wags. It’s incredibly cute.
I do feel younger viewers will get the most out of The Bad Guys, but it’s still inventive and charismatic enough to be a decent watch for any age, so I’ll give it a general recommendation. Maybe if it isn’t the most groundbreaking feature ever, I do feel it stands out and has a degree of weight to its characters that helps them feel as genuine as they are funny, which is a hard goal to pull off. But what was your take on it? Let us know how you felt at FAN’s social media spots to share it!