The Bad Guys

DreamWorks is pretty inconsistent when it comes to their movies, as they in one moment can release one of the lowest and most laughed-at animated films of the year, and then turn around and produce one of the greatest and most-applauded, it’s never one-to-one with them. With a recent trajectory that’s more in line with Shrek than The Prince of Egypt (both styles are good, but entirely different in terms of majesty), their filmography throughout the 2010s was certainly turbulent, with mediocre to bad releases that often clouded over the few good that did emerge, and this trend seemed to be repeating in the 2020s (Trolls and The Boss Baby both getting sequels wasn’t helping their case), but an unexpected gem came in the form of the 2022 heist comedy, The Bad Guys. Based on a children’s book series written by Australian author, Aaron Blabey, which told the story of a villainous group of anthropomorphized animals trying to change people’s perception of them by becoming ‘’the good guys’’, the movie played well with critics and audiences, overperformed at the box office, and spawned a franchise including two holiday-themed tv specials and a sequel in 2025, giving hope back that the studio could pull out something special when need-be.

In a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals co-exist, law enforcement are constantly on the look-out for a criminal gang known as The Bad Guys, which consists of their leader, Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell), the safe-cracker, Mr. Snake (voiced by Marc Maron), the hacker, Ms. Tarantula (voiced by Awkwafina), the master-of-disguise, Mr. Shark (voiced by Craig Robinson), and the ‘’muscle’’, Mr. Piranha (voiced by Anthony Ramos), all of whom have accepted their existence as dangerous, hated creatures and use their talents for criminal purposes. While attempting to steal the Goldin Dolphin award which is set to be given to guinea pig philanthropist, Professor Rupert Marmalade (voiced by Richard Ayoade), Wolf inadvertently helps an old woman and enjoys the sensation of doing good, ruining the plan and causing the five to be caught. Instead of being put away for life, Wolf subtly convinces Marmalade to teach them to be good with intentions of swiping the award at their commemorative event, but things take a turn when Wolf actually starts to enjoy being good, which puts him at odds with his best friend, Snake, who doesn’t believe he or any of them are capable of being anything other than villains. As plans start to change and friendships get tested, a new threat arises which forces these bad guys to prove once and for all, that they are capable of doing the right thing.

The Bad Guys isn’t on the level of DreamWorks’ best but does contain a lot of their strongest components to lead to a very charming, colorful, funny and hectic movie. While it goes off the rails by the end and can be a tad puerile in parts despite its seemingly adult-leaning premise and atmosphere, the very likeable cast, glorious animation, and solid humor make this a pretty great steal.

What grabbed people’s attention the most with this movie along with its beautiful 2D-inspired art style which looked delightfully frantic, and unexpected but very appealing choice of Sam Rockwell as the lead, was the fact that it was going to be a heist film meant for kids, which hadn’t really been done before. They could be featured as sections in an unrelated narrative, but one specifically focused on characters pulling off orchestrated and tactical breaking-and-entering schemes in high-scale buildings was never really tackled in the world of mainstream Western animation, and DreamWorks hoped to achieve what Kung Fu Panda and Shrek did for their respective genres with this new flick. With a book series that contained a straightforward yet likeable premise, turning it into a film was a sound idea, and considering DreamWorks’ more adult-leaning personality (at least in the best possible circumstances), they’d be the right people to bring this idea to life, and they managed it pretty nicely. Screenwriter Etan Cohen has a bit of an inconsistent filmography, but his work on films like Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Men in Black 3 and Tropic Thunder, explains the sharper, more adult manner of speaking present between the characters, and it’s pretty surreal to see a DreamWorks film with over-the-top slapstick paying homage to projects like Pulp Fiction, Lupin III, and the Ocean’s films but it fits pretty nicely.

The atmosphere is smooth, sleek, and pretty engrossing and chill, which is offset by the hyperactive characters, unbelievable frantic animation style, and rapid pacing which always feels like it’s going on fast-forward. While this is normally an issue, it very rarely causes any confusion, and the movie has enough heart with its characters and its clear but well executed message that it doesn’t just feel like a madhouse. For a first-time directing job, Pierre Perifel manages to steer things in a very entertaining and charming direction whilst still bringing a distinct personality, but not everything is top tier. While containing a slightly more adult atmosphere, the movie ironically feels very kid-oriented in its humor department, which while occasionally offering a really creative visual gag or a wonderful line reading, can throw out some low-hanging fruit that brings down the class a touch. The third act also goes a little crazy with more of a sci-fi angle in what was a standard wacky crime environment, but even that isn’t too problematic as its good nature and suave closing note means people will leave satisfied.

After his Oscar-winning performance in the 2017 Coen brothers’ film, Three Billboards Outside Missouri, Sam Rockwell was on a bit of a resurgence when he was cast as the lead in this film, and although DreamWorks are usually known for filling their movies with celebrity voices whether they’re the right picks or not, they clearly had the right idea with not just his casting, but everyone else’s as well. Everybody is very well cast in this and thanks to the expressive animation, easy-to-remember designs, and hyperactive tone and comedy, most of the characters come out looking pretty great. Rockwell is very effective as Wolf, bringing a suave confidence expected of most heist-film leads but also enough shakeable comedy and genuine heart to result in a simple but all-around good lead. Snake is a deceptively good character as well, with Marc Maron doing a really good job bringing a gruff cynicism but also legitimate warmth to the part which is showcased the best through the very nice friendship between him and Wolf. Sadly, the remaining members of the Bad Guy group don’t have the same kind of dedication given to their parts and mainly just act as comedic foils, but they aren’t bad at it.

While Piranha’s humor is a little childish (very gas-based), and Tarantula is just a standard Awkwafina voice acting job, they’re all voiced very well and the way their animalistic traits are incorporated into their criminal roles results in some fun visual gags (especially with Shark as the master-of-disguise). Zazie Beetz does a pretty nice job as the character of Governor Diana Foxington, and she and Wolf have some solid chemistry which leads to a few cute scenes, Richard Ayoade has such a fantastically funny voice that anything he says as this overly positive guinea pig will get a laugh even if what’s written isn’t that funny, and Alex Borstein is pretty great as an overly aggressive police chief, even if some of the human characters can look a little strange with the animation style.

The animation clearly took influence from Into the Spider-Verse with its stylized look that incorporates both a 2D and 3D aesthetic, but this movie is still able to form its own identity thanks to being in the heist genre. It doesn’t just come from the fun editing choices and camera shots that clearly had fun emulating the style of these classic crime flicks, but the detailed linework, bombastic imagery and zippy commotion make it feel like a Looney Tunes cartoon presented in a comic-book style. It lends itself very nicely into the physical comedy and sight gags, but has enough structure and weight to make the slower scenes still feel impactful, the manner in which all these animals are animated and express is very smart and full of character (especially Snake as watching him emote without hands is wonderfully intriguing), and because of the Los Angeles-type setting, the soft orange hues of light paired alongside the glamorous party settings create a wonderfully serene atmosphere that perfectly matches the heist mentality and just looks all-around great.

It’s a style that DreamWorks hadn’t really attempted at the time (given their current preference for traditional 3D animated movies) but really worked out for them in the end and it’d be great to see them experiment with other styles in the future. The music by Daniel Pemberton also has clear ties to the heist genre and does a great job capturing that specific sound associated with the genre, featuring a familiarly brass/percussive heavy sound, but the added prep makes it fit nicely in the more cartoonish world they inhabit.

The Bad Guys isn’t on the same level as Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, The Wild Robot, or Shrek 2, and despite adopting a genre and style that should feel more aligned with adults, it’s clearly a kid-friendly feature that can fall into that diminutive trap a few times, but much like the movie says, outward appearances can be used to hide the true value someone houses inside, and there’s a lot to like about this film. It’s no surprise that it performed well given its likeable cast of characters, engaging animation style, and emotionally driven storytelling, so if more movies like this come out of DreamWorks rather than Trolls or The Boss Baby, everybody will probably be much happier. The ending goes a little crazy (although not as crazy as the original books which suddenly included demons and multiversal conflict), the humor can be a little kiddish and it’s a shame that all of the Bad Guys aren’t treated on the same level as Snake and Wolf, but either way, this heist is one that is definitely worth taking part in.