
Good evening everyone! Today, we are going to be reviewing another movie. This time, we will be going into the latest animated feature from DreamWorks Animation. Not to mention that it is the first original film, instead of a sequel, since 2019’s Abominable. Released on Friday, April 22nd, 2022, the latest DreamWorks animated film is the one, and only The Bad Guys, based on a children’s book series by Australian author, Aaron Blabey.
Plot: When five well known criminals, known as the infamous Bad Guys, and consist of animals, Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Marin), Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) attempt a heist that goes awry, they’re nearly taken to prison before being asked to first perform community service by a red fox named Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), and a Guinea pig named Professor Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade). Will the criminals now choose to eventually return their lifestyle of criminal activity, or will they actually have a change of heart by the end?
Let’s start things off by talking about the animation of this film. Well, most of the animation is good. First of all, the animation techniques that they used for this computer animated DreamWorks film was rather unique this time around. To begin, you have the characters look both computer animated, and hand-drawn at the same time. This is especially the case when it comes to the designs of the animal characters. Now, yes, we have had 2D animation incorporated in past computer animated films like the Kung Fu Panda movies, for instance. However, the 2D sequences, and mostly 3D ones were basically separated from each other. Not the case with The Bad Guys. This time around. While the designs on characters, and most of the backgrounds are still computer animated, it’s almost like the characters look both 2D, and 3D animated at the same time. This surprisingly goes not just for the characters, but also for moments like when you have fighting sequences, dust, or smoke, rising from the ground at certain points, and things like that. Honestly, if DreamWorks were to at least give another shot at full-on 2D animation because of that, who wouldn’t want to see that welcomed back, you know? The only thing about this film that is more of a nitpick than anything is that the designs of the humans seemed to feel more like something from a TV show, or something like that. The designs on the humans weren’t bad. Still, the animation on the humans could have at least been better. Now that we have that out of the way, how about the story? Well, though the story may not quite be something phenomenal, or special, it is very unique, and different from your typical animated film, be it Disney, or DreamWorks, you name it. For starters, yes, kids will definitely enjoy this film for there being animals, and the creative storyline. At the same time, however, teens adults will enjoy it not only for those possible factors, but more so for this film basically having adult material like The Fast & The Furious, Pulp Fiction, Speed, and movies like those. Because of that, a guy, and girl could more than likely go see The Bad Guys for a date, without possibly thinking it weird to see an animated film on a romantic date. Yes, animated films in recent years have seemed to have more mature storylines. Still, with all the adult references in this particular film, it seems to help make this film mature even more. Not to mention the really interesting plot twists that are in this film. There were times when I found myself predicting that certain things would happen, only to find out that they turned out differently. Yeah, depending on what kinds of plot twists one prefers, those definitely help make a film more enjoyable. The Bad Guys is no exception. And of course, how could I not mention the s characters, especially the Bad Guy crew? They’re all very well written. However, it’s really Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Snake that seem to be the bigger standouts of the five. Diane Foxington, and the rest of the cast of characters are really good too. Oh, and another thing! How could I not finally mention, as far as positives for this film go, how incredibly funny this film is at times? I mean in addition to references to older more adult films, if you liked 2008’s Get Smart specifically for it’s excellent mixture of action, and comedy, you’ll most definitely feel the same way about The Bad Guys in that aspect.
However, there are at least a couple flaws to this film. First of all, the villain, without hopefully giving anything away, didn’t seem to be all the memorable, and seemed to act more like your typical villain plot twist type. Also, as for the ending, let’s just say that, even if it’s a good ending, you might find yourself feeling a little ambivalent about it. Finally, the film could potentially send mixed messages at least to kids, if not teens as well.
And that’s my review for The Bad Guys. Well, despite the film’s flaws, there’s no doubt that it turned out to be somewhat revolutionary, especially with the animation, and maybe even it’s storyline to a degree as well. The characters are fun, and the film, as a whole, is one that people of all ages will really enjoy. Definitely go see it if you can, and see what you think!
Final Grade: B+
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