The Bad Guys are struggling to find trust and acceptance in their newly minted lives as Good Guys, when they are pulled out of retirement and forced to do “one last job” by an all-female squad of criminals.
Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell) and the rest of the Bad Guys struggle to change their public perception of themselves as being good. They cannot find jobs, and a new criminal known as “The Phantom Bandit” does not help things, as the public suspects that this new criminal is secretly The Bad Guys. They get roped into joining The Bad Girls, led by Kitty (Danielle Brooks), on a heist, but when her nefarious plan is revealed, Mr. Wolf and co. hatch up a plan to bring them down.
Dreamworks has been stepping it up in terms of animation style from the first “The Bad Guys,” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” and “The Wild Robot.” This sequel is also enjoyable, and the animation is quite beautiful, but I think it may have bitten off a bit more than it can chew in terms of plot.
I was, frankly, quite surprised at how much I enjoyed “The Bad Guys” in 2022. I think the redemption arc of this group and the voice performances of Sam Rockwell and Marc Maron (Mr. Snake) stood out in the first film. Once again, Sam Rockwell was my favorite performance in this film, while Maron has a fun subplot in this one.
The dynamics between the Bad Guys are pretty strong here. Thankfully, with Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), the two more over-the-top characters, being regulated more in the background, but still having moments of comedic relief. As for new characters, I quite enjoyed Doom (Natasha Lyonne). Unfortunately, I think Danielle Brooks as Kitty fell flat for me in her voice performance as the main villain. It just felt to me that she was saying lines. I didn’t think that she was emoting much with her voice.
I was pretty into this film with the sensible plot that the Bad Guys would have trouble changing their public perception. That started to change when the villain’s plot was revealed around an element called “McGuffinite.” Some people may have enjoyed that pun, but it irked me. Kitty planned to use that element, turn it into a magnet, and then go into outer space and use the magnet to steal all of the gold from Earth. Even though this is a kids’ film, this plotline was too outlandish for me. I prefer it when the story feels a bit more grounded.
While I wouldn’t say that this film wowed me, there is still fun to be had. I quite enjoyed the Bad Guys and Girls infiltrating a tech mogul’s wedding, the opening heist sequence, and the newfound dynamic between Mr. Snake and Doom.
With the end of summer looming, “The Bad Guys 2” is a solid film to take kids to see before school starts. The children in my screening had a great time, and you can’t help but be charmed by Sam Rockwell in this role.
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