Hey everyone! its Dan here and today I'm going to be giving a review for the DreamWorks animated movie, The Bad Guys!
If you have not seen the film yet, SPOILERS AHEAD!
I just wanna start off by saying that the animation is amazing, it goes for that 2D/3D hybrid style almost similar to the Spiderman multiverse movies and the art style is definitely its strongest point. I enjoyed watching the movie and watching the animation play out the way it did. DreamWorks has always had some banger animation for their films, my favorite films include Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and How to train your dragon. Those films were all done using 3D and CGI VFX, but each one was distinct and you can tell which one was from which film franchise. The Bad Guys animation is far more unique compared to previous DreamWorks projects and I thought it was aesthetically pleasing and fun to watch.
The cast did an excellent job of bringing these characters to life, my personal favorite performance was done by Sam Rockwell himself aka Mr. Wolf. Now I only really know him for his role as Justin Hammers from Iron Man 2 and that's how I recognized his voice in Mr. Wolf. Rockwell played a smooth talking charismatic villain in Iron Man 2 and he's done it again in Mr. Wolf for The Bad Guys movie. Sam Rockwell just knows how to play the sly smooth talker in these roles. Zazie Beetz did a great job in her role as Diane Foxington as well as Richard Ayoade as Prof. Rupert Marmalade. Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos, Craig Robinson, and Marc Maron did an exceptional job as the bad guys as well they all had me laughing and enjoying the heists the characters would pull off. I would like to give a big shout out to the Director of the film, Pierre Perifel. Perifel has been with DreamWorks for a number of years helping animate the best DreamWorks animated films we all know and love. This was his first major film he directed and he did a phenomenal job with the film as I enjoyed watching it.
The plot itself is where I start to get into my nitpicking and criticism, it's a classic "Don't judge a book by its cover" story much like Megamind and it's nothing new or groundbreaking it's just a simplistic plot. It's about the bad guys going good since these guys are all predators of the animal kingdom so it would make sense people would fear them and see them as monsters. As the movie progresses you'll start to see how predictable it gets with its twists and turns. I'm starting to see more human and anthropomorphic animal's all in the same setting now. I've seen that in anime, but now were getting that more in big screen projects, Sonic the Hedgehog films helped popularize that I feel. That's not a complain I just felt like something to be pointed out which I think is cool. Now my nitpick is why in some scenes we have anthropomorphic animals who walk and talk like people and regular animals who are literally on all fours and unable to talk? Like the scene where they try to bust out Guinea pigs from a test lab and they're all regular animals but Prof. marmalade is able to walk and talk? that's a weird one to me. My other criticism is that the plot feels rushed, like I know its an hour and 40 minute movie but that doesn't mean you need to rush certain parts and cram it all in. Like in the beginning the heist for the gold dolphin award they literally just talked about their plan while they were enacting their plan then in the middle Wolf saves a cat from a tree in which Marmalade was recording on social media and now suddenly everyone loves them which I thought was kind of goofy but I digress.
I understand this film is more geared towards kids and that's fine, like there is fart jokes here and music and dance number as well. None of that kills my vibe for the movie its fine and it's a little fun at times I'll admit, but there is subtle humor for the adults to enjoy. Like the scene where the Bad Guys dress in onesies, Wolf specifically is dressed in sheep pajamas which is based on the old saying "A wolf in sheep's clothing." which I thought was clever I like subtle jokes like that. That's basically what the story is about, never judge a book by its cover and there will always be that wolf in sheep's clothing, but it may not always be that easy to figure out who. The film did an excellent job conveying that message to the audience. Another detail is that Wolf will constantly break the 4th wall which is some real Deadpool powers, he's always talking to the audience from the beginning to end, sometimes its fun, sometimes it's a little overdone. I still had fun with his shenanigans it added to the charm of the film.
Overall, I think the film was fun to watch and I enjoyed it. Yes it was a simplistic plot but still a fun time. Pierre Perifel made an amazing Original DreamWorks animated film after years of sequels and I'm looking forward to any future Dreamwork's projects and any projects by Perifel himself.
Now putting this into my rating I'd give this bad boy:
7.5/10
I'd recommend giving this film a watch for anyone looking for a fun movie to watch, or if you need to watch something with the kids or family then I highly recommend this for you guys.
that's about it, see ya!