The Bad Guys

Despite taking inspiration from adult franchises like Ocean's Eleven and the films of Quentin Tarantino, The Bad Guys will mainly appeal to the youngest in the audience.  That's not to say there's nothing worthwhile here, as the animation is beautiful, and there are a few lines that are worthy of a laugh.  But it's also the kind of bright and fast-paced entertainment that's kind of fun while it plays out, but leaves your mind the second it's over. 

Based on a series of children's graphic novels by Aaron Blabey, the titular Bad Guys are a pack of anthropomorphic animal criminals who live in a world of humans, and have long been seen as villains simply because they are often perceived that way in storybooks and popular fiction.  The ringleader of the pack is the sly and cool Mr. Wolf (voice by Sam Rockwell), and he is backed up by the short-tempered safe cracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), tech-savvy hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), master of disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and finally Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), whose role seems to be to provide the fart jokes that all children films of this sort require.  He also gets an out of the blue musical number midway through, so there's that.

Their latest heist is to steal an award that is going to be given to the city's Good Samaritan, Professor Rupert Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), a guinea pig who lives in a sweeping mansion, but donates everything he can to the poor, needy, and sick children.  When their efforts to nab the award during the ceremony goes bust, the Bad Guys are given a second chance by the newly-elected governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), who perhaps sees something in these criminal animals.  She places them under the guidance of Professor Marmalade, hoping that he can transform them into model citizens.  Naturally, the gang is not happy with this, save for Mr. Wolf, who not only seems to have eyes for Diane, but who realizes he may actually kind of like being a good guy for a change after he inadvertently helps an old lady.

The main thing that stands out about The Bad Guys is its visual style, which seems heavily inspired by comics, with maybe a touch of anime, and has a unique California sun-drenched tone that helps it stand out.  And thanks to the talented celebrity cast, we get some great line readings, and a couple moments that are worth a laugh.  What never quite clicked with me is the world that these characters inhabit.  It's not like Zootopia, where animals are existing with one another.  The population seems to be 98% human, with these few anthropomorphic animals hanging around without any real explanation.  There's also a kind of Sci-Fi element, with a mythical meteorite that contains the ability to grant power that the movie also never bothers to explain, other than it needed something for the surprise villain (who is not at all surprising) to want in order to conquer the world.  

I have no doubt that I could buy all of these concepts in one movie.  Heck, I have believed stranger things than this in the movies.  But because the screenplay credited to Etan Cohen (Holmes & Watson) never quite does the proper world building or explains anything, it comes across as a strange combination of elements that don't quite fit together.  Some of the caper movie parody moments are fun, and the opening dialogue exchange between Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake in a coffee shop (that seems very much inspired by the conversations in Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs) is fast and witty.  But there are just as many moments that don't hit, because the filmmakers don't seem to quite have a grasp on it, or its audience.

The Bad Guys is pleasant enough, but I kept on wanting to enjoy it more than I was.  This movie either needed a bit more edge, or to explain its universe a bit better.  If your kids have had their fill of Sonic 2, this will do.  But there's bound to be a better movie coming along as the summer movies kick in.

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