Don't mess with these bad guys
'The Bad Guys' are back in their all-new sequel
"The Bad Guys 2" stars Sam Rockwell ("Moon") as Mr. Wolf, the leader of a team of burglars, who have turned over a new leaf after the first movie. With everyone down on their luck and their team in a morally grey area, The Phantom Bandit has arisen to replace The Bad Guys as the baddest criminal in the world. Mr. Wolf and his team must now investigate the mysterious Phantom Bandit and prove to the world that their good deed wasn't just a one-time deal.
Do they succeed, or is it back to the doghouse for the Bad Guys?
I really enjoyed the first "Bad Guys" movie, and this movie is no different. Similar to the first movie, this sequel is a fun return for the team, but it doesn't elevate the characters like I had hoped it would.
A big positive about the film is its excellent voice cast. Rockwell is great as the sly but alluring Mr. Wolf. His dynamic with Diane Foxington, played by Zazie Beetz ("Deadpool 2"), is entertaining to watch.
Beetz is great as Diane, as she does a fantastic job acting, and I totally forgot it was her until the credits. Beetz gives Diane a soft, silky voice that can turn fierce and angry in the heat of tension. Her performance was really fun to watch.
The other Bad Guys, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Shark and Ms. Tarantula are also great. Anthony Ramos ("In The Heights") makes a great comedic relief as Piranha. Craig Robinson ("Brooklyn 99") is also great as Mr. Shark. I loved all his disguise shenanigans. Akwafina is good as Ms. Tarantula, but has very little screen time. Danielle Brooks ("Peacemaker") shines as Kitty Kat or the Phantom Bandit, but as a villain, she is barely in the movie. Natasha Lyonne ("American Pie") and Maria Bakalova ("Borat 2") also have funny voice cameos.
The animation is amazing and eye-popping. There are a lot of cool fish-eye lenses used in chase scenes that give the animation an elastic bend that helps the action flow with a fast pace, but won't make you dizzy.
It has a similar style to certain anime like "Dragon Ball" and "Lupin the Third" but is still grounded in Western animation. I liked the fusion of styles, and some of the frames are laugh-out-loud funny.
My biggest problem with the film is that I feel it takes on too much for such a small window of time. There's surprisingly a lot of plot happening in the film, and I feel like the movie was afraid to expand on those ideas and doesn't give enough screen time to some characters, so it felt like some stories were underdeveloped.
The villain of the movie is also given little screen time, and the finale of the film, although beautiful, definitely held the film back because of how unnecessary it was.
Overall, this is a great movie to bring your kids to, which adults will also enjoy viewing. This film stands with the first in terms of quality, but there is room for improvement. I hope the team can learn from some past mistakes before the release of the third and rumored final movie. I'd give "The Bad Guys 2" an 8/10.
Carter Salley is Central Michigan Life's resident film reviewer and co-host of the popculture podcast "Raving Geeks." He is majoring in media arts.
