THE BAD GUYS review

THE BAD GUYS is directed by Pierre Perifel. It’s based on the books by Aaron Blabey. The film features the voice talents of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Anthony Ramos, Craig Robinson, Alex Borstein, Zazie Beetz, and Awkwafina.

The Bad Guys are a group of humanoid animals who regularly perform heists around their city, much to the chagrin of the disgruntled police chief. When a heist goes wrong, a benefactor saves them from jail by offering them the opportunity to become “Good Guys,” something the city is skeptical of. Will the group succeed in trying to turn over a new leaf, or will they return to their former life of crime? And is there more to things here than meets the eye?

3D animated family films are a dime a dozen these days, and I admittedly have a tough time getting excited about them. THE BAD GUYS is a film a got to attend a screening of on a Saturday morning with a group of enthusiastic families, young and old alike, and they were certainly eating it up. The film succeeds in terms of its visual style and keeping the audience focused with something almost always going on, but it also falls into some common tropes of animated family films and completely goes overboard with plot twists in its third act.

Where I can give THE BAD GUYS the most credit is in its voice cast, which includes Sam Rockwell as a literal Big Bad Wolf conflicted between a life of crime and one of helping people, a hilariously over-the-top Alex Borstein (of MAD TV and FAMILY GUY fame) as an overzealous police chief who wants to take the titular gang down, and the always-entertaining Awkwafina as a technology-proficient tarantula. Everyone recruited for this film is perfect for the role they play, from their frantic nature in an action/heist scene or a dialogue in a restaurant at the beginning of the film that feels like something out of RESERVOIR DOGS.

The movie keeps things moving along surprisingly well, and at times it’s laugh-out-loud hilarious, with something for young and old alike. While some aspects of the movie could’ve fared better, I wouldn’t say I was ever bored during its duration. The colorful visual style and animation will keep the eyes of all ages glued to the screen.

Sadly, despite promising elements, other elements fall flat. The biggest problem the movie has is an overcomplicated third act that throws in more plot twists than are necessary, and the result is a convoluted mess that becomes painfully generic. The movie also can’t resist going for the occasion cheap laugh, including a character who has flatulence as a defining character trait. Seriously?

I enjoyed THE BAD GUYS, and while the movie has been receiving positive reviews, I don’t think it quite lives up to what it could’ve been. It doesn’t help that this comes just a few short weeks after the vastly-superior SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2, in terms of family entertainment. There are better ways to kill time at the movies with your family this spring, but if you’ve already seen SONIC and you’ve exhausted your other options, THE BAD GUYS is at least good enough.