Directed By Pierre Perifel

Starring – Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina

The Plot – After a lifetime of legendary heists, notorious criminals Mr. Wolf (Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Maron), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina) are finally caught. To avoid a prison sentence, the animal outlaws must pull off their most challenging con yet, becoming model citizens. Under the tutelage of their mentor, Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), the dubious gang sets out to fool the world that they’re turning good.

Rated PG for action and rude humor

THE BAD GUYS | Official Trailer 1 – YouTube

POSITIVES

“The Bad Guys” is a prestigious return to form for Dreamworks Animation, in that it feels like the first film since the “How To Train Your Dragon” franchise that has properly channeled something stimulatingly profound for audiences of all ages to pull something thematically endearing from. It’s entertaining in a way that conjures creativity to the material, piecing together a stacked ensemble of comedic actors whose vast variety of colorful personalities not only help to bring nuance and ingenuity to each of their respective characters, but also in how they accentuate the punchlines of the material, taking puns that would otherwise be considered corny, and here invigorating them with a fresh sense of shameless self-indulgence that breeds fun and infectiousness in the tangibility of the experience. On top of it all, the toilet humor is kept mostly far away from the experience, earning screenwriter Etan Cohen no shortage of humbling respect, nor instinctual opportunity with regards to the folklore of these cherished characters translating superbly to the imaginative capabilities of the material. It’s also intelligent with how it cements an easily identifiable message in the underlining depths of the external conflict, deconstructing social prejudice based either on appearance or demeanor in ways that shame the conduct of society’s own irresponsibility’s without downright justifying the actions of its criminal protagonists. This gives the film an expansive scope and deeper meaning not only in the element of its narrative, but also in the design and constructs of its characters, established almost prematurely with the movie’s title in ways that already handicap us the audience, and deduce our interpretations of them based entirely off of the way everyone else already sees them. This preconceived prejudice would be a tragedy if not for the magical magnitude of the assorted ensemble here keeping each of them irresistible. Everyone is given ample time to shine, but for my money the work of Ayoade and especially Rockwell steal the show, with the former obscuring audible familiarity as a result of various accents and tonal inflections that he uses to express the ambiguity of the character’s backstory, and the latter solidifying a suavely sedated stature that channels the very essence of Rockwell’s never-ending cool factor. The movie’s technical merits are equally alluring with such stylistic sentiments, conjuring these surprisingly stunning schemes of cinematography that prove Perifel has successfully done his homework on the genre. With this being a heist movie, first and foremost, the editing displays many creative side-scrolling techniques in transitions, as well as multiple depictions in vantage montages, that summarize the many characters unique perspectives and skillsets being put into the planning, all the while prescribing a throwback presentation that presents something substantially stylish to what eludes it from being just another kids movie.

NEGATIVES

Despite the abundance of effectiveness that stems from Cohen’s sprawling creativity, the element of some poorly plotted twists do give way to a semblance of predictability for the movie’s climax that directly undershoots his execution. Part of this problem certainly stems from the limitations of the movie’s corresponding run time, which at 93 measly minutes with constantly anxious pacing to boot, leaves it minimal time to properly flesh out the supporting characters in ways that are anything other than conventionally telegraphed along the way. One such instance involves the unnecessary subplot of a shadowy figure of the crime world whose identity is supposed to be this groundbreaking secret, and the other pertains to a major betrayal that redefines the sides and reshapes the stakes that feed further to the moral ambiguity that many of these characters maintain. Though each of these were easily sniffed out in the opening twenty minutes of the film, the bigger problem was the temporary hinderance as I waited for the film to catch up to my unfortunate vantage point, leaving me primed for a climax that unfortunately loses too much momentum by that point to feel fully appreciated. Beyond this, the animation itself is a little underwhelming, both in vibrancy of color, but especially in the designs of the animal protagonists, which rarely ever sync-up accordingly to the designs in depth and detail of the various landscapes persisting in the backdrops of the film synthetically. Nothing feels tangible in the depth of their illustrations, nor the luster of their influence, harvesting an unfinished quality of instability that lacks ambition in fleshing out the appeal of this unique world, and failing to progress precedence in the evolution of the second greatest animation studio on the planet.

OVERALL

“The Bad Guys” lets the good times roll with a breezily enjoyable heist caper that embodies everything about the genre while supplanting an endearing sociological narrative about preconceived prejudices. Though the animation is slightly underwhelming, and the predictability factor influences more about the direction than earnestly desired, the stacked ensemble keeps it going according to plan with endless charisma and organic energy that makes this an inevitable crowd pleaser for the whole family.

My Grade: 7/10 or B