Movie Review: The Bad Guys

Movie Review: The Bad Guys                                                                                                       4-23-22

In a world where anthropomorphic animals live alongside human beings, there are five of the most skilled and notorious criminals in Los Angelas: Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina). One day, however, they got caught trying to steal the coveted Dolphin Award. Once they’re arrested, Mr. Wolf suggests to his fellow bad guys that if they pretend to be good guys, they could steal the Award for real. With the help of Guinea pig scientist Dr. Rupert Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), the Bad Guys try to be good, but Mr. Wolf soon realizes the difference between being good and acting out a rouse.

The Bad Guys poses a challenge for DreamWorks: Can they make a good movie without Jeffrey Katzenburg that isn’t a sequel? Turns out that they can! The Bad Guys is another jewel in DreamWorks’s crown with a unique animation style that challenges the medium, a story that both makes fun of and pays homage to heist films (similar to how Shrek made fun of fairytales and how Megamind made fun of superheroes), and engaging characters that rest on the same shelf as Shrek, Moses, Po, Hiccup, and George Beard and Harold Hutchins.

Mr. Shark stealing the Mona Lisa disguised as the Mona Lisa.

Another thing I appreciate is how colorful the film is, despite the fact that the books that it’s based upon are black-and-white. I also like how they changed Mr. Tarantula into a girl, who was originally a boy in the books.

Mr. Tarantula as he appears in the books.

In conclusion, The Bad Guys is the best film DreamWorks has put out since Captain Underpants, which was also adapted from a series of children’s books. I even think it’s better than Turning Red, though it’s just my opinion.

If any of you kids at home want to read the books that inspired the movie, go ahead! However, the books have a gritty art style reminiscent of Rick & Morty and a sense of humor and writing style similar to Dav Pilkey. Also, in the same fashion as Kung Fu Panda and Zootopia, animals take the place of humans in the books.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5