The Bad Guys 2

Bluesky

The Bad Guys was an entertaining caper movie that followed our protagonists as they attempted to do good, to great effect, and I'm delighted that the sequel does it too.

We open a few years before the first film, on the team's first heist together. That's with a showcase for the fearsome fivesome's particular sets of skills. Awkwafina's Ms Tarantula is the newest member, hacking her way through security systems. Mr Shark (Craig Robinson) and Mr Snake (Marc Maron) subvert security both socially and physically, Mr Piranha (Anthony Ramos) spins things into action like a flatulent dynamo, and Mr Wolf? Sam Rockwell ensures he brings the cool.

The target of that first pilfering as a pentad? A car, a one-of-a-kind, the same one as the first film but before its obsidian overhaul, a pristine piece of automotive ivory. So new that there's an odometer 'joke' which will probably sail past younger viewers but bring a chuckle to older parts of the audience. It is a kids movie, the eponymous characters are stars of a series of children's graphic novels, but there's more than enough to entertain those no longer in school.

Some of that's cast, there are a lot of comic actors among them and returning roles include Zazie Beetz as Governor Foxington, Richard Ayoade as Professor Marmalade, and Alex Borstein as Chief Luggins. There's a weirdly local bit of regionalisation. Comedian Katherine Ryan voices the Governor's assistant and while it's less jarring than Kate Thornton being substituted for Joan Rivers in Shrek 2 it's an indication of the flexibility that animation affords.

One of those is stylistic, there are moments where flame and steam and smoke and cloud and speed lines and other indicators of chaos are differently digitally drawn than the rest of the action. It's gorgeous, and one of several places where The Bad Guys 2 potentially serves as an introduction to anime in the proper sense. As a gateway drug to work like Howl's Moving Castle or The War of The Rohirrim, this would have enough riding on it to recommend, but it more than stands on its own two (or four or eight) feet.

There's new antagonists, troublesome trio Pigtail (Maria Bakalova), Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks) and Doom (Natasha Lyonne). Their introduction is later in the film, as the first opposition The Bad Guys face is their own reputation. It's hard to go straight, especially when you're used to the thrills of thievery. Harder still when what you're most famous for is filching, poster-children for pilfering. Among the many betrayals are emotional ones, especially from those who make clear that they believed that these racketeers could be redeemed.

Everything I adored about the first film is found again. The production design is great, the car that The Bad Guys steal is such a well-crafted object that I would in a heartbeat add it to my collection of movie vehicles. It'd sit happily beside the last of the V8 interceptors or Luke's landspeeder or any of James Bond's conveyances. There's also a space shuttle now, and if the words Tamiya Egg Plane mean anything to you, the sensibilities it soars from will see your smile go sunny-side.

Director Pierre Perifel returns, co-directing with JP Sans with whom he's worked previously. They've worked on the Kung Fu Panda series so the presence of a Snow Leopard is a bit of a nod, but that's almost inescapable when you've got this level of anthropomorphic animals engaging in genre shenanigans.

We have a solid caper movie, as with the first a great introduction to the heist genre for younger audiences. They're a great basis for kids films as even the most sophisticated and genre-savvy rely on reveals. It's part of the magic, not just misdirecting but owning up to it. There are nods to The Martian, an agency's abbreviation that'll bring a chuckle like discussions of SHIELD, and enough suavity to fill an Ocean.

School holidays often see kids movies released, if not dumped, to entertain an audience no longer captive in educational institutions. Historically that can be a mixed bag, but let me let the cat out of this one - The Bad Guys 2 is proper entertainment. There's more than enough nods to things to have older heads bobbing along but those are garnish to a mirthful menagerie of morally mixed mischief. There's no need to disguise my fondness for this, to dress it up. I wholeheartedly recommended The Bad Guys and I wholeheartedly recommend The Bad Guys 2 too.

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