DreamWorks’ latest film, The Bad Guys, might struggle to fully steal your heart because of the lack of depth in its central ideas, but it makes you want to hop in the getaway car with its titular crew for a fun, action-packed animated ride.
It’s tough to say exactly what, but there is something about The Bad Guys that hits different than any of DreamWorks’ past original animated films. Maybe it’s that this is the first film for the studio to focus on supposed bad guys turning good since Shrek. Perhaps it could be French filmmaker Pierre Perifel, who makes his feature directorial debut. Or maybe it’s how the film establishes itself in its opening. It is pretty special to see The Bad Guys identify itself as a “DreamWorks caper” and the initial conversation between longtime partners in crime Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell) and Mr. Snake (Marc Maron) gives off major Tarantino vibes. Best of all, though, is how the film establishes its two key strengths: its visually-pleasing art style and strong chemistry within its core group of thieves.
The Bad Guys’ art style features simplistic and charming character designs mixed with a great color palette. The style is fitting for the story’s children’s book origins and it’s got some pulpy comic book inspiration as well. The animation adds a lot of personality and energy to the characters and action, and it makes the fast-paced introduction a total blast. The film starts off on a great foot, mixing standard introductions of key players with an explosive and constantly fun getaway chase. There are plenty of visually exciting moments that make their escape from the police a ton of fun and the introductions to the rest of the crew work incredibly well in showing their unique personalities and abilities as well as the engaging chemistry within the team. It’s pretty great to watch the team rag on Snake’s dislike of his birthday and Wolf’s fourth-wall breaking narration is delightful because Rockwell’s voice work is so strong.
When The Bad Guys lets its central group of bad guys be bad, there’s a lot of fun to be had, but that doesn’t stay the case when the film tries to make them good. After their attempt to pull off their greatest heist yet goes bust, the group is forced to pretend to go good with the help of good-hearted philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade) or face harsh jailtime. Certain strengths with the characters are maintained throughout the film, mainly the group’s chemistry. All the voice work is great in giving the group an incredibly enjoyable dynamic that provides some good laughs and heart as group opinions shift. Wolf and Snake’s relationship is especially strong and the other three crew members, Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), act as great comedic relief from time to time.
However, The Bad Guys’ attempt to have its titular group of thieves turn good falls mostly flat because of how thin the narrative is. It barely spends any time seeing them actually start to change their ways and rushes through its plot so much that its character arcs are starved of creativity or complexity. It makes the group starting to become forces for good not that satisfying and the twists that come from a few characters are so painfully obvious they can be seen from miles away. A lot of what The Bad Guys does with its character arcs simply fit the overly generic and overused theme of not judging a book by its cover. However, the film doesn’t try to further explore this idea or approach it through any unique angles, making it incredibly basic. Thankfully, though, none of this ever completely hinders the film’s action-y finale or a final reveal from Mr. Snake that you can’t help but love because it’s such a heist moment.
The Bad Guys might not nail its themes to create an intriguing moral lesson or central plot, but its characters, action, and animation are worth the ride it offers and provide some of DreamWorks’ most unique personalities in recent memory.
