Movie Review: The Bad Guys
After a lifetime of crime, Mr. Wolf, Snake, Shark, Piranha, and Ms. Tarantula are finally caught. To avoid prison, the group decides to con the world into thinking they’ve become model citizens. Under guidance from Professor Marmalade, the gang tries to fool the world. But what if one of them starts to think that being good is good?
May 23, 2022
“The Bad Guys” got a rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.9/10 from IMDb. The film, based off of the children’s book series by the same title written by Australian author Aaron Blabey, is 1 hour and 40 minutes long, and was released to theaters on April 22.
The cast of the film includes notable celebrities such as Sam Rockwell, Richard Ayoade, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos and Marc Maron. Majority of the actors deliver lines with a humorous intent to a satisfactory degree. I laughed more than I expected to at a kid’s movie.
“The Bad Guys” features computer animation, and its style is similar to that of “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie.” Think “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” type animation. It is very action packed, with comic book style components popping out at the viewer, which keeps the viewers attention with the many small details, such as the glass in the picture below.
I watched the movie with my two brothers, aged 7 and 9, and the animation kept their attention throughout the film.
The movie generally has a good message, especially for younger viewers. The characters are judged by their species stereotypical behavior, such as the wolf’s role in the story tale The Three Little Pigs. As the characters figure out how to deal with such circumstances, they realize that they do not have to be what the world sees them as. It should be noted that the idea of being judged by your appearance as well as the anthropomorphic animals give the film a similar thematic feeling as “Zootopia.”
The cast is diverse, and the characters, such as a female governor or police chief, give positive reinforcement to this. Several cast members are of different ethnicities, and while the characters are animals, this idea about not judging others based on their appearance gives the diversity a positive message to the viewer.
The film was fairly predictable, but without any spoilers, you can tell who’s “evil” and other “hidden” details very easily. Again, this is a children’s movie, so it is fairly acceptable for these elements.
Overall, this movie is good for kids due to its action packed animation and comedy and relatively entertaining, even for older audiences. I would rate this movie a solid 8 out of 10.
