The now-reformed Bad Guys are trying (very, very hard) to be good, but instead find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes, globe-trotting heist, masterminded by a new team of criminals they never...
Can’t say I’m surprised I remember “The Bad Guys” as fondly as I do: it harbors a familiar sense of chaotic sensibility while finding some exaggerated, wholesale silliness in its zany animation and gags and while its concept had predictable story beats and cliche trappings, it was executed well enough for those to be forgiven.
If “Bad Guys 2” is anything to go by, the antics might be getting old but the fun remains contagious the second time around.
Pierre Perifel returns to the director chair with some help in the form of JP Sans, and streamlines these series of events with the same blithe bounciness and poise as its predecessor even with its more passive moments. Keeping up its delightful blend of Tarentino/Ritchie manic energy with the faintest shreds of erratic bluntness, the combined direction only just builds on what works and what will be expected out of this.
The Looney Tunes-inspired zaniness of the animation makes a fierce comeback, doubling down on the dynamic cell-shaded video game pop art-style and making inventive use of two-dimensional drawings in a three-dimensional space for the odd visual emphasis to where every frame is both a meme and a homage simultaneously; style acting as substance and perhaps the movie’s most consistent and successful trick. Just like before, the eclectic cool of these multi-cultural cities and environments are vibrantly on display in this production design, carefully coasting off many boastfully colorful, high-energy, kinetic playgrounds that look wondrous, compliment the graphic, dynamic stylings and only just supercharges the 70’s Bond-esque noir atmosphere with some plum urban motifs and Austin Powers visual jazz that’s as unrestrained as it is calculated. It doesn’t just reference pop culture; it actively digests and regurgitates it.
It does come at the cost of yet another surface-level presentation, preventing intricate worldbuilding from manifesting itself or taking proper advantage of past events but it tickles just enough of the cartoonish-anime graphic novel influence to wear on its sleeve.
And to further illustrate how drop-dead gorgeous the sheer visual aesthetic is, look no further than the cinematography; deliberately applying an anamorphic-lens look and 2:40 aspect ratio to offset each frame, playing around with dimensions and perspective constantly to emphasize the vastness of its world and the importance of each set piece. It works in tandem with the lighting too, which often plays with shadows and light, giving everything a classic noir-throwback vibe while the editing is mostly sharp and prophetic.
The briskly paced affair complements the durable hour-and-forty-five minute runtime and never loses whatever momentum it builds up, much of the tone and atmosphere oozes that familiar cheeky benignity and quirkiness that help supply its rambunctious personality, Daniel Pemberton’s jazzy scoring undertones mixed with the more, modern orchestral beats amplify every self-aware moment and action setpiece tenfold, the sound design snap, crackles and pops with such auditory, tactile clarity and for what its worth, said action sequences double down on the fluidity of the animation thanks to their staging and coordination; having them be well-choreographed on top of that is just the icing on the cake.
Once more, the character roster remains fairly stellar with their own breadth of dimensionality (even if there are a little too many to keep track of) and benefits mostly from the mostly snappy dialogue and natural chemistry of its returning voice cast. While screentime between certain members can be overshadowed or unbalanced in instances, everyone still pours their all into their roles with gusto with Sam Rockwell anchoring the helm.
We all know the prototypical sequel blueprint for a movie; go bigger, go badder, give us more excess and glitz, up the stakes too for the hell of it. On a purely surface level viewing, you can be forgiven for thinking this story checks all those boxes but when you really pull back the layers, it only checks two-and-a-half. Still taking its beats directly from Ocean’s Eleven while throwing in a dash of Moonraker, it’s every bit as playful as previously and vigorously sticks to the “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” formula with mixed results. Its balance between heartfelt storytelling and rapid-fire comedy isn’t always as seamless , the plot structure can fell like a pure contrivance due to how overcomplicated certain sections have to be to map out a specific result and these are more narrative pit stops than roads to genuine insight, but this plot more or less closely mirrors the same mentality DreamWorks had the first time around: despite being scatterbrained and not as tightly focused, it isn’t anything more than the sum of its parts because it doesn’t need to be.
Everything you expect to happen goes off without a hitch but doesn’t deter from the fun; like, it’s really hard to summon genuine disappointment when the film’s entire MO is brazen, unrepentant showmanship.
I will also admit its overarching themes about rehabilitation and the difficulties of earning trust after turning a new leaf fell a little flat. Like, it built a good enough foundation from the first film to carry over, not just in character dynamics but especially in heightened drama when comparing and contrasting the previous antagonist to the new one; seeing the different types of bad between straight-up taking what you want by force or putting on a gentle, kind facade to rob them blind and in plain sight. Correctly pointing out how some prejudices are difficult to overcome, the limits of prisons abilities to properly rehabilitate people and how people are more than willing to hold grudges over you rather than give you a chance, to me, deserved a more ambitious denouement and more grayer outlook than what the movie provided.; the execution of these themes might not completely devolve into schmaltz and schmaltz alone, but there’s at least some thematic focus to them. Seriously, just imagine how much more daring the drama would’ve been had the movie gone deeper in the system's role in changing or breaking reform.
I don’t know if I’m more annoyed at how quickly it finds rather simplistic answers to the questions it poses or how the movie still ends up being good despite that, constantly sacrificing depth for momentum.
Just like the Despicable Me series, this might be staring down the barrel of self-inflicted moral arcs that tear the concept of the series apart, but as of right now, “The Bad Guys 2” maintains a likable enough quality to coast by on sheer charm and kinetic energy alone. DreamWorks’ willingness to experiment with visual identity remains strong even if it comes at a slight cost.
