The Bad Guys

Wolf, Snake, Piranha, Shark and Tarantula are the best thieves in town, but now their luck has run out. Instead of prison, however, they're going to re-education to become good guys. And they're gonna love it! The Bad Guys is an unexpectedly fresh and entertaining animated film with absolutely delicious action and exceedingly well executed heists, whose writers have a background in heist movies. Too bad the story itself and its heroes are somewhat bland. (03/05/2022)

An animated blast that pays homage to the heist genre! After Zootropolis and The Mitchells vs. the Machines, here's another animated film that really hit my taste. It's about a bunch of thieves who are animals living in the world of humans (I had to get used to this for a while and it's better not to dwell too much on this factor). They are the scourge of the city, they have no competition and they are feared. However, one of the biggest heists of all awaits them, and they have the cruel sheriff at their throats. I enjoyed Wolf and Snake the most, probably the most interesting characters. Visually, the film is on a great level, the various heists and stunts are presented intelligently and with clarity (you can see that the makers are familiar with the heist genre), and there is also great action – the car chase accompanied by the Chemical Brothers gave me instant goosebumps! I also enjoyed the fights and the more epic finale. Again, there are a lot of interesting details and comedy interludes, which are very nice, but what shocked me was the load of crazy twists that wouldn’t be out of place in Bond film or a thriller; the attempt to shock and surprise works well and that is not usual in animation, for that The Bad Guys get a big thumbs up for me. Definitely a great, thrilling and entertaining ride. Story 4/5. Action 4/5, Humour 4/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 8/10 (19/05/2022)

The frenzy of Tex Avery's animation meets the sleek swing of Ocean’s Eleven resulting in one of the best animated films I've seen in a long time. The animation is stylish and reminiscent of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, the main wolf hero with Sam Rockwell's voice couldn't be more likeable, there are great gags, excellent action scenes, Daniel Pemberton's stomping music… It doesn't matter that the story isn't original and you can't help but think of Despicable Me while watching it. An ideal film for young and old alike, the kind Dreamworks used to make. (19/09/2022)

The Bad Guys relies on similarly unusual animation style as The Mitchells vs. the Machines, which is arguably the film's biggest draw. Story-wise, it doesn't really have much to surprise us, we've seen similar stories (the transformation of a villain into a good guy transformation or don't judge a book by its cover) elsewhere. But thanks to its original visuals and a enjoyable dose of action and humour, The Bad Guys manages to engage, thrill and entertain despite its rather generic premise. A weaker four stars! PS: At the beginning I had a bit of a problem with the fact that the main characters are animals in a world of humans (and a tiny minority at that) - but whatever. (15/04/2022)