I’m wary when an animated film presents itself as “*Insert Adult Genre* For Kids!” I worry that the focus will be on winking at the parents in the audience instead of creating an engaging experience that bridges the gap between childlike fun and adult sensibilities. Thankfully, The Bad Guys is an example of the latter. Pierre Perifel’s debut animated feature is an energetic romp that pays homage to adult cinema without bogging itself down with incessant in-jokes and references. It’s for kids, but I mean that in a celebratory way.
The film follows a colorful crime family made up of animals that tend to strike fear in the hearts of the masses: Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Ms. Tarantula, or Webs (Awkwafina), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos). After a heist goes awry, the crew are faced with the potential to rehabilitate their image. For once, they have the chance to see what it feels like to not be shunned and hated, and instead be embraced and loved.
If the nod to Reservoir Dogs isn’t immediately apparent in the characters’ names, the opening scene is a call-back to Tarantino’s visual language in a way that delighted me as a film fan without exhausting me. The diner scene that sets the stage for the film’s first of many action setpieces is an homage to Pulp Fiction. In fact, it’s the longest continuous shot in DreamWorks animation history. The Bad Guys is an animation marvel — and has some of the studio’s most stylized and energetic work to date. Not since Hiccup and Toothless’ first ride in 2010’s How To Train Your Dragon has DreamWorks’ 3D animation left me so breathless. Taking inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the film plays with lighting, pops of color, and even the textures of the main characters’ skin, scales, and fur to deliver stunningly inventive frames and sequences. There’s a vibrancy to the world of the film, like a pulpy comic book hopped up on too much sugar.
I worried that the film would not be able to sustain its intense visual energy. However, the performances of the main cast work hand in hand with the animation. Walking a fine line between cartoonish fervor and sincerity, everyone involved does fantastic work. For decades now, many animated films have leaned into stunt casting, hiring celebrities with obnoxiously familiar voices that make it impossible for them to blend seamlessly with their characters (Zac Efron in The Lorax, Chris Pratt in Onward, Nicki Minaj and Jennifer Lopez in Ice Age: Continental Drift, just to name a few). This is not the case in The Bad Guys. These actors mesh perfectly with the body language of their specific characters and have great chemistry together, paving the way for fluid comedic and emotional scenes between them.
Sam Rockwell is the easy standout here. The film outright refers to his smug charm as a Clooney impression, but it’s not grating. He sells the conflict within Mr. Wolf, a character who is so used to being reviled that any kind gesture makes him almost short-circuit. He’s constantly performing, whether it’s acting gruff and scary to maintain his criminal image, or trying to stifle the conflicting feelings that might put him at odds with his crew — the animals he refers to as family. His chemistry with Mr. Snake and Zazie Beetz’s Diane Foxington are at the center of some of the film’s best scenes. There’s a fun, natural rhythm to the dialogue that breaks away from the constant snark and quips that tend to plague the genre.
The Bad Guys has its flaws, to be sure. It’s not as egregious as other DreamWorks films, but there’s a reliance on fart jokes and other kinds of juvenile humor that clashed wildly with the tone set up at its onset. There are several twists packed into the sometimes meandering plot that were obvious even to the small children in the theater. For as much as the titular gang are built up to be criminal masterminds, I wish more time was devoted to seeing them actually perform successful heists in detail. Their multi-pronged plans are undoubtedly the highlights of the film. Little camera flourishes and quick exchanges between the characters bring out that little bit of Ocean’s 11-like flair that sets it apart from other stories that cover similar ground, and there just isn’t enough of it.
The Bad Guys makes up for its shortcomings with an irresistible charisma and style. I can see this being a child’s entryway into a deeper appreciation for film, the way something like The Incredibles was for me. It’s an animated film for a decidedly young audience, but there’s a craft and love of filmmaking here that makes it more than just something to throw on to waste time. If nothing else, it’s wonderful to look at. I hope I can look forward to more inventive animated adventures like this one in the months to come.
