The Bad Guys. It’s a good movie. About the bad guys! They’re bad. But they’re also good? They tend to be bad. However, sometimes they’re good. Though the movie is called the “bad” guys, So, what’s the movie about…?

This movie is fun. It’s honestly quite a pleasant surprise from DreamWorks, seeing as how I feel like their animation output has been in a slump lately. Sadly, I can’t really say how bad the more recent movies are since I haven’t seen them. Based on audience response and my own perception, I certainly avoided the likes of Turbo, Croods 2, and Home. I mean, does anybody have anything good to say about those movies? By all means, let me know in the comments.

With that in mind, I feel like nobody is talking about the Bad Guys. Actually, I only saw one channel talk about the movie, and that’s the wonderful folks at Corridor Digital, who gave a glowing review of the animation style. I also only saw one of my friends on Facebook confirming that they said it and enjoyed it. At least they are giving this movie the love it deserves. However, I want to throw my hat in the positivity ring here too! 3

First of all, the thing that makes this movie great is also what DreamWorks really has done best the whole time. Take cliches and not only revel in them but also have fun turning them on their head. This time around, we follow The Big Bad Wolf as the leader of a heist crew (played AMAZINGLY by Sam Rockwell). He’s also followed by a snake (Marc Maron), a shark (Craig Robinson), a tarantula (Awkwafina), and a piranha (Anthony Ramos). Normally, DreamWorks gets a lot of flak for “stunt casting” in their animated films, but I don’t think this one does.The cast were having lots of fun playing their roles, and you get a sense that they knew how to give the characters a sense of fun and heart at the same time. 

Secondly, this movie really did it for me on an emotional level! The message behind this movie actually ends up being a pretty good one, and certainly is one I would not be ashamed of showing my future kids (or nieces and nephews) with no hesitation. I’d also hope to think they would feel that this is just as cool of a movie as I thought it was.

Thirdly, this movie definitely feels “cool.” A running joke is the idea of the Wolf’s “Clooney-ing” as part of his personality, and I feel the whole movie works off of that vibe as well. Especially when you consider the cool cel-shaded art style applied to the movie with a shiny polish that makes this quite a cartoony visual feast. 

Even if you haven’t seen this movie yet, and even if you may have missed the theater run in your area, this movie is certainly worth checking out when you can get it on Blu-ray/4K or have it available for streaming. It’s a fun time with a good message, and it certainly has enough appeal for kids and adults alike to get a good number of smiles out of it. The Bad Guys are good, and that’s good enough for me!