After a lifetime of legendary heists, notorious criminals Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Shark, and Ms. Tarantula are finally caught. The animal outlaws must pull off their most challenging con yet – becoming model citizens to avoid a prison sentence. Under the tutelage of their mentor, Professor Marmalade, the dubious gang sets out to fool the world that they’re turning good.
“The Bad Guys” consists of Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Snake (Marc Maron), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Shark (Craig Robinson), and Piranha (Anthony Ramos), longtime friends who just happen to be bad guys. They rob banks, steal cars, pretty much anything they can get their paws/fangs/fins on. They live in Los Angeles, where humans and anthropomorphic animals co-exist. Having eluded the authorities for years, when the new Governor, Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), insults the gang on live TV, stating that they are just plain lucky and not proficient at their job, Wolf decides to up the stakes. He informs the rest of the gang that they will steal the famed Golden Dolphin award, which will be presented to philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade), a guinea pig who is more concerned about the welfare of others than himself.
The gang successfully steals the award but are exposed and arrested trying to escape the building. Before they can be taken away, Rupert pleads with the authorities to allow him to try and reform them and turn them into good guys. Governor Diane begrudgingly agrees, but only because Rupert is highly esteemed within the community. He takes the gang to his home far away from the city and begins the long, arduous task of overseeing their rehabilitation, but it is not an easy undertaking. One evening, Wolf hears the cries of a tiny kitten stuck in a tree and rescues it. The scene is caught on video, and the clip goes viral. Wolf begins to feel happy within himself, and as the gang’s training comes to a close, Rupert announces to the city that their rehabilitation is complete and that they are now good guys, and the city announces a gala in celebration.
Naturally, the gang is pretending to be good, all the while utilizing the gala as an opportunity to steal the Golden Dolphin award for real this time, but when the award goes missing, right in front of everyone’s eyes, the gang is automatically held responsible, even though they had nothing to do with it. After escaping the authorities once more, the crew must figure out who the real culprit is, track them down, retrieve the award, and return it to the city, so they’ll know they didn’t take it. When all avenues lead back to Rupert, the kindly and benevolent guinea pig who has dedicated his life to helping others, they refuse to believe it themselves, but when the gang’s notorious rival, the Crimson Paw, unexpectedly arrives, she offers to facilitate them with their dilemma, in the hopes of helping them return the award so that she can steal it herself.
“The Bad Guys” is clichéd and formulaic; you can see plot twists coming a mile away, but the excellent voice cast helps elevate it above conventionality. After “Trolls World Tour” and Disney’s “The One and Only Ivan,” Sam Rockwell returns to animation as Wolf, the gang leader. When we first meet him, he is arrogant and conceited, dismissive of everyone else’s ideas because he knows what’s best, but as he slowly becomes proficient in kindness and compassion, learning that being bad is not everything it’s cracked up to be, we find ourselves wanting to encourage him so he can become the better wolf. The rest of the cast, including Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade, and Alex Borstein, all contribute harmoniously to their respective characters and the movie itself, leaving the ending wide open for “The Bad Guys 2” to ride into town.
In Theaters Friday, April 22nd
