The Bad Guys
DreamWorks’ forty-second cartoon features a gang of diabolical thieves that pretends to go straight in order to pull off the heist of the century.
Good to be bad
Some guys have a really bad press. In the animal kingdom, the wolf, snake, piranha, tarantula and shark are still largely feared by the human species. So ace thieves Mr Wolf, Mr Snake, Mr Piranha, Ms Tarantula and Mr Shark capitalise on their image to wreak havoc on a cartoon vision of Los Angeles. It’s a good life, and because of their fearsome reputation, the criminal quintet’s wrongdoings go largely unpunished. “We may be bad,” reasons Mr Wolf, “but we’re good at it.” Mr Wolf is the George Clooney of this zoological Oceans 11 and Sam Rockwell does a splendid job of channelling the actor’s vocal smarm. The voices are certainly an asset, with Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade and Zazie Beetz making the most of the snappy one-liners (Mr Snake: “I’ve got the skin of a reptile half my age”).
The production makes no bones about drawing on the legacy to which it is beholden, and older viewers should appreciate both the narrative and musical references. The plot, too, is a crafty affair and zips along at the rate of knots, ducking and diving between the bon mots and structural U-turns. Basically, the gang thrives on its esprit de corps and its audacious misdeeds help to bond the family dynamic. But when they are finally caught by the police they beg for a second-chance so that, behind their squeaky-clean new image, they can plot the snatch of the century. But there’s a complication. In fact, there are several complications…
Having a tarantula that’s a computer prodigy and sounds like Awkwafina is getting one’s web and spinning it, as the animal underworld truly exploits her ability to plant eight circuit jams at once during yet another heinous heist. But in spite of the fast-paced madness on screen, there is room for a commentary on the complexity of moral choices. Here there is an overriding message that we should never judge a wolf by its cover and so our unprincipled protagonist finds his own agenda compromised by an innate instinct for altruism. In every wolf, it seems, there is a dog primed to wag its tail for a good deed.
If the computer animation is a little under-nourished and the action over-the-top, The Bad Guys is great fun and should tickle viewers old and young alike. And beneath the lively entertainment value, there’s food for thought, particularly as expressed by the film’s nominal heroine, a red fox called Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz). The allusion is clear.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, Lilly Singh.
Dir Pierre Perifel, Pro Damon Ross and Rebecca Huntley, Screenplay Etan Cohen, based on The Bad Guys graphic novels by Aaron Blabey, Ed John Venzon, Music Daniel Pemberton, Sound Jason W. Jennings and Brandon Jones.
DreamWorks Animation/Scholastic Entertainment-Universal Pictures.
100 mins. USA. 2022. UK Rel: 1 April 2022. US Rel: 22 April 2022. Cert. U.
