Title: The Bad Guys 2
MPA Rating: PG
Director: Pierre Perifel, JP Sans
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Danielle Brooks, Marc Maron
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

What It Is: We’re taken to a time before the events of the original The Bad Guys. Our team of thieves, led by the Big Bad Wolf (Rockwell), is in the middle of a heist. They’ve got a rookie tech expert in Tarantula (Awkwafina), as well as the rest of the crew: Snake (Maron), Shark (Craig Robinson), and, of course, Piranha (Anthony Ramos). Fast-forward to the present — they’ve gone straight, they’re out of the game. But when an unknown thief pulls them back in… it’ll be by any means necessary.

What We Think: Man, these films are such a good time. The voice acting is top-notch. Sam Rockwell is the Big Bad Wolf — the snark and sarcasm he brings to the character make him who he is. Danielle Brooks perfectly embodies the villainous energy of her character, and she’s an absolute joy to watch. The titular Bad Guys are endlessly fun together. Each character has a defined role — one the movie playfully pokes fun at — while also keeping things accessible for the whole family. The jokes are genuinely funny, which is something a lot of animated films struggle to pull off.

Our Grade: B+, I’m definitely down to see another one of these. The ending leaves the door wide open, and there are plenty of stories left to tell. There are, what, nineteen books in this series? I’m not saying we need to run this into the ground like The Fast and the Furious, but there’s no shortage of directions to explore. Let’s go to those places. Family-friendly animation rarely features characters this diverse and interesting without some heavy-handed moralizing. This film isn’t trying to teach you a life lesson — it’s just focused on being entertaining. And that’s something more movies should aspire to be.