The Bad Guys (2022) Review
“Go bad…or go home.”
Dreamworks Animation’s latest is undoubtedly a step in the right direction for the studio; promoting a new style of animation and, at times, a sharpened sense of humor that feels more natural than it does forced. But even though Pierre Perifel’s The Bad Guys starts off so strong – it eventually leads into the same trappings that plague most of the 3D animated genre these days; lack of originality, direction, and an overbearing amount of jokes that feel targeted to younger crowds rather than a universal audience. For every clever cutting satirical joke – there’s a fart joke thrown in to take older audiences out of the experience. There’s an argument here that the film is targeted primarily towards younger audiences – though I’d make the counterargument that filmmakers don’t need to stoop to a level of juvenile humor so heavily ingrained into the plot. The How to Train Your Dragon series, Wall-E, Ratatouille, and The Mitchells vs. The Machines are all fine examples of finding a universal audience within the surreal realm of 3D animation. You can be funny without being *stupid*. And for an animated movie that’s blatantly riffing off the OCEAN’S franchise – it seems as if the filmmakers intended on seeking different ages of filmgoers alike.
THE BAD GUYS opens in on a Tarantino-inspired dialogue between infamous thieves, Wolf (Sam Rockwell) and Snake (Marc Maron), in an LA diner before they commence a bank heist. What ensues is, quite possibly, the coolest 3D animated car chase I’ve ever seen; boasting an animation style that’s as unique as it is frantic. But immediately as that chase ends, the title card pops up, and the film starts to lose steam; the spark of that bombastic introductory sequence vanishes almost instantly. Not without its fair share of successful comedic beats, however, the film overall fails to incite any level of intrigue past that initial introduction – and any gorgeously animated action sequences that follow. But as the premise kicks in, the film falls into predictable trappings and aimless sequences that don’t really amount to much by the end. Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Anthony Ramos, Zazie Beetz and Craig Robinson all do a tremendous job with their roles, yet, there’s not much life to breathe into a film like this when the characters feel so one-sided and stale in the first place. Rockwell is the standout of the bunch – though mostly due to his character having undivided attention for the majority of the runtime; not giving the audience to connect with any of the supporting roles.
Once “The Bad Guys” are overly ambitious with a heist – they end up getting caught and given an ultimatum; to become “Good Guys” or get locked up forever. Though Wolf is on board to become a better person, the rest of the crew seems adamant on staying “Bad” forever. It’s a purposefully “black-and-white” narrative that feels like a missed opportunity to break the (almost) universal theme of every 3D animated movie; “Be yourself.” The movie is disjointed in a manner that feels like a hodgepodge of comedic beats thrown together while the narrative can remain steady and uninspired in the background; leading to a predictable finale that, though humorous, feels tired nonetheless. I wouldn’t necessarily say The Bad Guys is a bad movie – but there’s a much better movie in here and I wish the Perrifel and Etan Coen were willing to push the boundaries a bit to find it.
