Plot: As The Bad Guys struggle to find trust and acceptance in their newly minted lives as Good Guys, they are pulled out of retirement and forced to do “one last job” by an all-female squad of criminals.
Review: While the world waits for George Clooney and Brad Pitt to assemble their crew for another chapter of the Ocean’s saga, the Big Bad Wolf and his crack team of criminals-gone-good are back for another outrageous heist with The Bad Guys 2! Taking inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and stylish live-action films like The Fifth Element, Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, and Ocean’s Eleven, the latest film in the Bad Guys franchise is every bit as good as the original, and takes the story and characters to new heights (literally and metaphorically).
Pierre Perifel returns to the director’s chair for the go-big-or-go-home sequel. His direction feels less dynamic this time around, though not without his signature flair for explosive action, intimate character moments, and love for a good zoom lens. I spent much of the movie waiting to feel the roller coaster swoop of Perifel’s camera, and the punch of his tight, stylish edits. However, the story requires a different approach, trading previous filming methods for experimentation and grandiosity. Some people say sequels need to be bigger than the original, and it’s clear that Perifel and his talented team got the memo.
The Bad Guys 2 ups the action of the film series in scope and scale, with the original voice cast and a trio of rival criminals bringing new relationships, clever banter, and stakes to the game. The plot never fails to stack the odds against Mr. Wolf and his team, and the emotional push and pull of their collective battle to become known as Good Guys provides plenty of drama. These characters still hoping to repent for their past misdeeds, and it’s great to see their efforts to change through calculated acts of kindness and heroism.
After turning over a new leaf, Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), and Diane Foxington (Zazie Beets) struggle to change the public’s perception of The Bad Guys, despite their efforts to go legit. With Commissioner Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein) watching the group’s every move, and a trio of female criminals – Kitty Kay (Danielle Brooks), Doom (Natasha Lyonne), and Pigtail (Maria Bakalova) – threatening to ruin any goodwill the Bad Guys might have earned, Mr. Wolf thinks “one last job” is what the collective needs to secure their reputations as Good Guys.
All the original players return for The Bad Guys 2 with as much chemistry, playfulness, and swagger as they did in the first film. The Bad Guys 2 even takes a bold swing by giving Alex Borstein’s Commissioner Misty Luggins a lot more screentime, elevating an already-outstanding character to main cast status with hilarious results. Luggins’s energy is manic and bursting with expressiveness, giving way to wild facial animations that fill the screen with gnashed teeth or stunned silence as she ponders her relationship with Mr. Wolf and his crew.
Diane Foxington (Zazie Beets) plays a bigger role this time as the governor of Los Angeles, whose secret identity as the Crimson Paw could sink her political career at any moment. Foxington was a standout character in Perifel’s original Bad Guys film, and the sequel gives her more time to demonstrate why she’s always the coolest person on the screen, and the most capable at kicking your ass nine ways to Sunday.
Danielle Brooks’s performance as Kitty Kat, a diabolical, opportunistic thief with delusions of grandeur, adds an outstanding amount of villainy to the mix. Kitty Kat’s physique is stacked and menacing, and she moves with the agility of a snow leopard, making her stealthy, cunning, and difficult to pin down. I greatly dig her character design, especially the pale blue iris of her right eye, which gives her dagger-like stare an additional level of menace.
Kitty’s crew includes Doom (Natasha Lyonne), an untrustworthy black raven with the key to Mr. Snake’s heart, and Pigtail (Maria Bakalova), an excitable wild boar with a talent for Lucador wrestling and engineering. Lyonne and Maron, as Doom and Mr. Snake, share many of the film’s funniest moments, with their disturbing and heated courtship inspiring some of the most significant laughs from my audience of all ages.
One thing I notice about the Bad Guys franchise is its confidence. Universal isn’t afraid to let Perifel off the leash, letting him pace the story in ways that permit great character-building beats. Mr. Wolf and his crew aren’t just reformed criminals, they’re a family. They stick by each other’s side no matter the circumstance and are willing to die if it means redeeming themselves in the eyes of those who question their motives, or the one person who sees the good they’re capable of. They’re a group worth rooting for, and they bring accountability to the table at a time when real-world criminals often scoff at the thought of consequences for their actions.
Did I mention how much The Bad Guys 2 drips with style? I often say Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the greatest gift to big studio animation since Pixar’s Toy Story, and the artists behind this franchise know what’s up. The Bad Guys 2 is a visual feast, with Perifel taking Mr. Wolf and his crew to uncharted territory in the third act by way of a trip into space. The new environment lets Perifel play with physics in fun and exciting ways, as the characters foil and evil plan while weightless and out of their depth. The film also offers visual variety by introducing stylistic animation shifts inspired by anime, Sunday morning comic strips, and manga. Perifel uses these departures sparingly, making each instance a fun surprise for animation enthusiasts.
Another standout is Daniel Pemberton’s score, which adds to the sequel’s “cool factor” with a groovy arrangement of jazz fusion, funk, electronic elements, and intense orchestral pieces that bring atmosphere and urgency to the action. Pemberton’s soundtrack has as much boldness and attitude as his efforts for The Bad Guys. However, it lacks an undeniably energetic musical number from Mr. Piranha and Mr. Shark, which would have been a welcome return.
Universal‘s The Bad Guys franchise takes many lessons taught by Into the Spider-Verse and uses them to make something vastly entertaining and worthy of another sequel. The Bad Guys 2 even does a fantastic job setting up another story, which could take Mr. Wolf and the gang in an alternate but logical direction. While The Bad Guys 2 is not revolutionary like KPop Demon Hunters or carries as much emotional depth as last year’s Flow or The Wild Robot, it does everything it intends to do with slickness and finesse. The plot can feel overstuffed, but the threads are easy to follow. It’s also a tad predictable, but I suspect that comes from years of recognizing a macguffin when I see one. The Bad Guys 2 also offers plenty to audiences of all ages, be it relatable moments of self-reflection, zany action, or a well-placed fart joke. If you want to feel good about being bad the next time you go to the movies, The Bad Guys 2 is your ticket for a wild ride.
Source:
JoBlo.com
