the bad guys movie review christian

The Bad Guys (Christian Movie Review)

Final Verdict: A hilarious movie with charming characters, beautiful animation, and a wholesome message for all ages.

About The Film

If Zootopia and Ocean’s Eleven had a baby, that offspring would be The Bad Guys . Inspired by classic heist films, the latest animated film from DreamWorks Studios tells the delightful story of a team of notorious criminals—featuring a wolf, snake, piranha, tarantula, and shark. When the criminals bite off more than they can chew, they are arrested and given one final opportunity to prove that the “bad” guys can become the “good” guys. Along the way, there are lots of unexpected twists and turns, endless double-crossing, and a hefty dose of charm, resulting in one of the best animated films in recent memory.

The Bad Guys is just a ton of fun. From start to finish, it is relentlessly fast paced, although never in an obnoxious or hyper-stimulating way. The movie does slow down on occasion to sprinkle in an emotional story beat or a moral lesson, but it rarely lingers long. It has a wholesome lesson to share (more on that below), but its primary function is to entertain make audiences laugh.

This film is legitimately hilarious. The best part about the humor is that it is suitable for all ages. It rarely descends into the gutters of mindless slapstick or poop jokes to “appease” children, but neither does it cram in a bunch of crude innuendos to satiate long-suffering parents. As with the story overall, most of the humor comes from clever build ups and unexpected twists. Even when it does stoop to “potty” humor—like a repeated fart joke—the gag serves the plot and is used in humorous ways.

The animation is equally well done. The aesthetic is a sort of a stew, with 3D and 2D art styles melded together, and various stylized elements and motifs mixed in. The final result is an animation style that is visually interesting and appealing to look at, but not distracting or attention-seeking.

Like the Bad Guys team themselves, all of these major elements—quick pacing, entertaining story, laugh-out-loud humor, and a charming aesthetic—work together to produce a fun and wholesome film suitable for all ages.

For Consideration

Profanity: A few “placeholder” swears (“fudge” and “OMG”).

Sexuality: None.

Violence: None.

Engage the Film

What does it mean to be good.

The tagline on the movie’s poster is “Good is no fun at all.” The movie’s main message is to deconstruct that slogan and demonstrate that it does, in fact, feel pretty good to do good! The movie approaches this theme from several different angles, and while it is not always clear or simple in its conclusions, there are several worthy teaching moments throughout.

Is being “good” just about what we do, or is it also about how and why we do it? The Bad Guys are tasked with doing good to escape punishment, and have every intention of returning to their criminal ways. While their good deeds earn them public praise, there is clearly something amiss. Adding to this discussion is the sickeningly good philanthropist Guinea pig, Prof. Marmalade IV, who is tasked with training the Bad Guys on how to be good. Despite his outward reputation for doing good, Marmalade is pompous and self-righteous. His character brings to mind Matthew 6:5-6, and the rebuke of hypocrites who desire to be seen and praised for their righteousness. Consistent with scripture, the movie affirms that even good deeds can be done for bad and sinful reasons.

Proper Perspective & Overcoming Stereotypes

In one scene, an unattractive sculpture in a courtyard is criticized, until the character realizes that the silhouette cast on the wall forms a beautiful swan. This scene acts as a metaphor for another of the movie’s major themes. As part of the heists, characters are constantly tricking others by manipulating and subverting their understanding of the situation. On a deeper level, each member of the Bad Guys is an animal that people are commonly afraid of. They have fallen into their life of crime because that is what the world expected of them. By the end of the film, however, they realized that they have a choice in who they are and are not defined by stereotypes or by other people’s opinions and expectations.

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The Bad Guys

Reviewed by: David Cook CONTRIBUTOR

The negative effects of stereotyping people / prejudice / prejudging

Setting: Los Angeles, California in a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals co-exist

Entertainment films that promote some basic biblical values

A gang of notorious, criminal animals who are exposed and arrested

About ROBBERY in the Bible

Thieves in the Bible: theft , robbery , the two thieves

What is SIN AND WICKEDNESS? Answer

A bad guy wolf who repents and reforms, becoming a crime fighter

Several reformed yet misunderstood criminal animals attempt to become good, with some disastrous results along the way.

Hypocritical politician who secretly does evil deeds

Does character matter in political leaders? Answer

What part should morality play in politics? Answer

What is JUSTICE? What does the Bible say about it? Answer

Justice of God

How can I know what is RIGHT or WRONG? Answer

How can I DISCERN whether a particular activity is wrong? Answer

Doing good feels good—it is what we were created to do

Importance of self-control and patience

Self-sacrifice and sharing

Putting the needs of others before our own

For a follower of Christ, what is LOVE —a feeling, an emotion, or an action?

This film is based on the book The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey.

W hat animal scares you the most?

Add a piranha and a wolf, and you have the main characters of Dreamworks’ newest animated feature “The Bad Guys.”

Mr. Wolf ( Sam Rockwell — “Moon,” “ Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ”) has always been viewed as a bad guy by those around him. I mean, it’s true. Every storybook villain seems to be a big, bad wolf.

Well, after a lifetime of these presuppositions, Wolf has embraced this villainous reputation along with his team of bad guys—Mr. Snake, Mr. Tarantula, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha. Together, they torment their city with a life of crime. They are outcasts to the world around them, clash with each other, but they remain each others’ only friends. It’s not a perfect life, but they have accepted it.

During their most recent heist, Wolf finds himself in the most unexpected place—helping an elderly woman. She doesn’t view him as a tyrant. She doesn’t see him as scary. She sees him as her hero. Wolf has never been viewed this way, and it makes him feel…well…good. Now, he wonders, could all those assumptions about him and his friends be wrong? Could they, instead, be “good” guys? This leads to a journey of personal realization that results in some crazy twists and turns as they try to achieve something special—Change.

“The Bad Guys” is the feature directorial debut of Pierre Perifel, who had previously worked with franchises like “ Kung Fu Panda ,” “ Curious George ,” and “ .” He’s made a beautiful film that resembles last year’s “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” and the critically acclaimed “ Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse .” However, where those films are a constant assault on your senses, “The Bad Guys” takes moments to slow down and let the audience breathe. Its sense of humor will reach kids with its silliness—like a snake wearing fake arms to blend into a crowd, and it will reach adults with its parodies of films like “ Ocean’s Eleven ” and “ Pulp Fiction .”

Even with its silliness, “The Bad Guys” examines some serious topics. At one point, Wolf meets the Mayor, who happens to be a fox. He is a criminal, and she is a successful community leader. Though their lives are polar opposites, she reminds him, “At their core, foxes and wolves aren’t that different.” It reminds us to never judge a book by its cover, and it strongly urges us to consider the needs of others over ourselves as it says in Philippians 2:3-5 NLT:

Don’t be selfish ; don’t try to impress others. Be humble , thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

This is a family film, and it is quite family-friendly. There is some animated action, crimes, and about a million mind-controlled guinea pigs—many of whom meet their demise. There is a prop that looks like a butt, and it is referenced frequently by the characters. One character has bad gas that impacts the story a couple times, but there is very little objectionable material in this film.

The positives outweigh the negatives, and I think “The Bad Guys” has a very poignant moment. A crowd is praising the main characters that were once considered evil and scary, but one brief instance causes the crowd to lose faith in them again. It shows that they never truly trusted those characters, and I doubt they ever will. It was a very honest moment in an otherwise playful family film.

Violence: Mild
Profane language: Minor— “OMG” (acronym)
Vulgar/Crude language: Minor— 2 euphemisms: • “fudge” • “Get the pack out of here” / plus some mild toilet humor
Alcohol: Minor social drinking
Nudity: Minor— • two male animal characters revealed briefly in their boxers
Occult: None

Who is the only one who can truly change a bad person’s personality to good and righteous? Answer: Jesus Christ

What is GOODNESS? Answer

What is RIGHTEOUSNESS? Answer

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

THE BAD GUYS

"doing good brings the ultimate joy".

What You Need To Know:

THE BAD GUYS is an animated comedy based on the book series by Aaron Blabey about the classic animal villains in their pursuit of redemption. Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Piranha have teamed together to pursue a life of crime until they are given an opportunity to go straight. Now, they must unlearn their devious nature and choose the path that stresses self-sacrifice and serving others. Eventually, just when their good behavior is about to be rewarded, they discover that someone is setting them up to be framed.

THE BAD GUYS is an excellent adventure filmed in a European animated style. The characters are engaging and likable, especially when they start to experience the power of doing good instead of evil. The movie is quite clever and witty, with several humorous moments. There are some questionable elements, such as cartoon violence, social drinking and euphemisms for expletives. One scene depicting some animals under mind control may be frightening to your children. The story in THE BAD GUYS is overwhelmingly positive, however, and outshines the negative elements. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.

Miscellaneous Immorality: Robbing a bank, stealing valuable objects, planning heists, and some deception and lying. In one scene, a male shark who is considered a "master of disguise" is dressed as a female during a heist. He then pretends to give birth as a distraction.

More Detail:

THE BAD GUYS is an animated action comedy based on the book series by Aaron Blabey about classic animal villains in their pursuit of redemption.

THE BAD GUYS opens with Wolf, the leader of the pack, explaining how he’s always the villain and never the hero. Because it’s expected of him, Wolf pursues a life of crime, further devolving into his wicked ways. Wolf’s best friend is Snake, who says his ultimate goal in life is to eat a guinea pig because they are “pure goodness.”

The movie opens with Snake and Wolf enjoying a meal at the diner ahead of their heist as Wolf wishes Snake a happy birthday. The rest of the crew is comprised of Shark, the master of disguise; Tarantula, aka “Webs,” a hacker; and Piranha, who’s known for his very smelly flatulence. As the crew begins their heist, each of them bemoans how everybody is afraid of them, and they feel like they’ll forever be relegated to being, well, The Bad Guys.

After robbing the bank and evading the bumbling chief of police, the crew heads back to their lair to celebrate Snake’s birthday. A smattering of photographs on the refrigerator reveal that they’ve become their own family. Shark teases Snake about how he must have a kind heart deep down, but Snake maintains he’ll always be diabolical.

While at the lair, the new mayor, Diane Foxington, calls The Bad Guys crew “has beens,” and asks the media to instead turn their attention to the upcoming Good Samaritan Awards to honor people who serve the community. The ultimate Good Samaritan will be awarded with a Golden Dolphin. Not to be dissuaded, The Bad Guys decide they’re going to steal the Golden Dolphin from the Good Samaritan Awards.

The Golden Dolphin is expected to go to Professor Marmalade, a guinea pig who became a community hero when he inspired the town to shift their perspective from seeing trash to seeing treasure after a meteorite crashed into the city. In this, the Professor is paraphrasing Isaiah 61:3 about exchanging beauty for ashes. Marmalade says he doesn’t do good because of the award, but because of how it makes him feel.

Wolf is on his way to retrieve the Golden Dolphin when he unintentionally saves an old lady from tripping down the stairs. She thanks him profusely, calling him a “Good boy.” As Wolf’s tail wags, he’s confused, because no one has called him “Good” before, and he begins to realize that doing the right thing can be quite satisfying. Here, viewers begin to see the seeds of good planted in Wolf’s life.

However, Wolf shakes it off and tries to steal the trophy anyway. However, the gang is caught red-pawed. As they’re about to be carted away to jail, Professor Marmalade asks Foxington for the chance to redeem The Bad Guys and teach them to do good. Foxington reluctantly agrees, and, to the police chief’s dismay, The Bad Guys are released into Marmalade’s care.

Marmalade then begins to coach The Bad Guys in the ways of doing good. Much of these activities are based on serving their neighbor, which Marmalade insists will give them a “tingle of goodness.” He encourages The Bad Guys to share. He also stresses self-sacrifice, telling them that a good person puts the needs of others ahead of their own. The team makes progress, and Marmalade plans to show them off at the next Good Samaritan gala.

As the evening arrives, The Bad Guys are confused because people aren’t running in terror or screaming at them. Instead, people have now begun to embrace them not as The Bad Guys, but as The Good Guys for their reformed behavior. Everyone is all chummy as Marmalade prepares to finally receive the Golden Dolphin.

It turns out, however, that the evening was all an elaborate set up to frame The Bad Guys … but why? And, who’s behind the frame? Will their newfound good habits remain? Or, will The Bad Guys succumb to their old ways?

THE BAD GUYS presents a very Christian, biblical worldview with a simple but powerful story that shows no one is beyond redemption. Professor Marmalade paraphrases biblical concepts like exchanging ashes for beauty, stressing the fruits of the Spirit such as joy, peace, patience, and self-control, and promoting self-sacrifice, helping your neighbors and putting your friend’s wants and needs above your own.

THE BAD GUYS is an excellent adventure depicted in a European animated style. The characters are engaging and likable, especially when they start to experience the power of doing good instead of evil. The movie is quite clever, with several humorous moments. There are some questionable elements, such as cartoon violence, social drinking and euphemisms for expletives. One scene depicts some animals under mind control and may be frightening to young children. The story in THE BAD GUYS is overwhelmingly positive, though, and outshines the negative elements. MOVIEGUIDE ® advises caution for younger children.

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Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘The Bad Guys’

NEW YORK (CNS) — The heist genre gets a fresh burst of frenetic energy with the animated comedy “The Bad Guys” (Universal). This high-octane, older-kid-friendly caper is veteran animator Pierre Perifel’s feature debut — and the neophyte director nails it.

Screenwriter Etan Cohen’s script, adapted from a series of books by Aussie author Aaron Blabey, introduces a criminal crew of anthropomorphized animals who have their fellow citizens of Los Angeles trembling in fear. As with the humans of the “Ocean’s 11” movies, each member brings a specific expertise to the group.

Mr. Wolf (voice of Sam Rockwell) leads the pack with a quick hand and smooth charm. His best bud, Mr. Snake (voice of Marc Maron), cracks wise even as he cracks safes.

Mr. Shark (voice of Craig Robinson) takes the prize for master of disguise. Mr. Piranha (voice of Anthony Ramos) provides muscle and overall craziness while Ms. Tarantula (voice of Awkwafina), whom the others call “Webs,” expertly hacks into any security system.

When California Gov. Diane Foxington (voice of Zazie Beetz) announces that the Golden Dolphin Award will go to Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (voice of Richard Ayoade), a guinea pig Good Samaritan, the gang sees a glittering opportunity: The statuette that symbolizes the honor is, after all, nothing less than the “holy grail of thievery.”

The villains are caught, however, and Foxington is all set to hand them over to Police Chief Misty Luggins (voice of Alex Borstein), a human whose obsessive desire to bag the Bad Guys has made her a bit crazy. But Marmalade intervenes, asking Foxington to let him run an experiment to see if he can transform the miscreants into do-gooders.

Thus begins a not-so-subtle lesson in character development that will delight parents. As for kids, they’ll be so diverted by the Bad Guys’ struggle to overcome their long-practiced wrongdoing, they may not even realize they’re being taught the importance of virtue and the value of true friendship.

The cast handles the light banter in the dialogue with aplomb. That may be partly due to the fact that, unusually for a cartoon, the actors were sometimes able to record simultaneously — thus making it easier to play off one another.

Some of the abundant laugh-out-loud twists and turns that will amuse preteens and grown-ups might be too scary for small fry. A case in point: the appearance of a zombie horde of mind-controlled guinea pigs.

There’s also a smattering of gastrointestinal and anatomical jokes. Additionally, a throwaway line, if not taken as a gag, could be construed as indicating that Mr. Piranha has gender identity issues.

Fundamentally, though, “The Bad Guys” delivers good values wrapped up in a funny package. It will make a rollicking treat for all but the youngest.

The film contains potentially frightening action sequences and occasional scatological humor. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Sister Rupprecht, a Daughter of St. Paul, is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service.

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The bad guys, common sense media reviewers.

Book-based animated heist is so fun, it's criminal.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Learning to share is a subplot.

Doing good makes you feel good, and you may receiv

Most of the primary characters are "bad guys" of s

While main characters are all animals, they're voi

Cartoon violence with no permanent outcome include

Two characters seem to have a low-level attraction

Vulgar language includes "butt," "fart," and "what

Main characters are thieves who steal jewelry and

Champagne and martini glasses are seen at parties;

Educational Value

Positive messages.

Doing good makes you feel good, and you may receive positive attention for positive actions. Also makes point that stereotypes are harmful, and that if someone is labeled "bad," they may choose to lean into the label rather than fight it. Even those who have appearance of being "good" may need extra scrutiny before receiving our trust.

Positive Role Models

Most of the primary characters are "bad guys" of some sort, but by the end they've made a conscious choice to change their ways. They work as a team.

Diverse Representations

While main characters are all animals, they're voiced by a diverse cast, and viewers are intended to take away the idea that we need to be conscious of the impact of implicit bias and the way that attributes like race, religion, and more can be depicted as villainous by and in the media. Female characters are in traditionally male-dominated careers, such as a police chief, governor, and tech hacker.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Cartoon violence with no permanent outcome includes characters being hit by a car, eating other animals, tussling, performing martial arts in self-defense, explosions, and a car crash. Some peril is played with a comical tone; one moment of worry is quickly alleviated.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Two characters seem to have a low-level attraction that involves dancing and the very lightest of flirting.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Vulgar language includes "butt," "fart," and "what the hell."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Main characters are thieves who steal jewelry and gold objects, even though they appear to have plenty.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Champagne and martini glasses are seen at parties; one character accepts what appears to be a martini. However, a character at a party later orders "a tonic water in a fancy glass," and it looks like the same drink.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Bad Guys is a fun animated comedy heist based on a popular graphic novel series . Delivering a memorable message about the harmful impact of stereotypes, it follows a wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell ), shark ( Craig Robinson ), piranha ( Anthony Ramos ), snake ( Marc Maron ), and tarantula ( Awkwafina ) who've formed an infamous crime ring. There's cartoon violence -- characters being hit by a car, fighting in self-defense, explosions, etc. -- and momentary peril, but it's largely delivered with a light tone. Characters drink from glasses that look like they might have cocktails in them, and friends exchange insults and use potty words ("butt," "fart," etc.). Over the course of the story, the characters learn that being good means putting others' needs before your own and that positive recognition may follow good deeds; a subplot about sharing is as clear and shiny as a diamond. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

Parents say (37)
Kids say (48)

Based on 37 parent reviews

A pleasant surprise

Really good family movie, even dad laughed, what's the story.

Notorious crime squad THE BAD GUYS have avoided capture for years, becoming the world's most wanted villains in the process. When they're finally caught, Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell ) brokers a deal: the Bad Guys will go good in exchange for their freedom. But the crew will have to convince everyone (and themselves) that they really are "good guys," just as a new villain comes to town.

Is It Any Good?

This animated adaptation of Aaron Blabey 's beloved Scholastic books revels in bringing a charming, modern take to a very specific idiom: "A wolf in sheep's clothing." Taking an empathetic approach to a crew of thieves who only pretend to "go good," this lighthearted and amusing heist comedy shows that when someone is labeled as "bad," they're likely at some point to start believing it. It's perfect fodder to help explain implicit bias, as well as why labels and stereotypes are problematic. And writer-producer Etan Cohen goes beyond the source material to show that even those who have the appearance of being "good" may need extra scrutiny before receiving our trust -- an equally valuable lesson.

The script has a few issues that may nag at parents, but overall, The Bad Guys is an enjoyable romp that's like Ocean's Eleven for children, and kids won't be hung up on the tiny details. That said, while the ending is responsible and shows that crime doesn't pay, it sure makes crime look cool along the way. This band of thieves doesn't steal out of need but because they're good at it, and it all looks legitimately fun (gentleman thief Mr. Wolf is super cool, so don't be surprised if your kiddo tries to lift something from your purse or pocket to be funny). Let's just hope the message about fighting bias is the movie's lasting influence.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about why it's harmful to label people. What is a stereotype ? Which ones do you think The Bad Guys is trying to show are problematic?

Describe what the terms "bad guy" and "good guy" mean to you. Why did you use those attributes? How do entertainment and media inform the way we think of others?

How do you feel when you help someone or put their needs before your own? Why do you think it feels good to do good?

How do the characters in the movie work as a team ?

What is a wolf in sheep's clothing? How is that idea explored in The Bad Guys ?

Movie Details

In theaters : April 22, 2022
On DVD or streaming : June 21, 2022
Cast : Sam Rockwell , Awkwafina , Anthony Ramos , Marc Maron , Craig Robinson , Zazie Beetz
Director : Pierre Perifel
Inclusion Information : Female actors, Asian actors, Latino actors, Black actors
Studios : DreamWorks Animation , Universal Pictures
Genre : Family and Kids
Topics : Adventures , Book Characters , Friendship , Wild Animals
Character Strengths : Teamwork
Run time : 100 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : action and rude humor
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : April 29, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Film Reviews

The bad guys - goodness feels good.

Film Review , Family , Action/Adventure
4/20/2022 10:20:00 AM
View Count 2027

The new movie from Dreamworks Animation, "The Bad Guys" couches a great lesson for kids in a fun-filled, action-packed heist movie: being good and doing good makes one feel good.

The film marks the feature directing debut of veteran animator, Pierre Perifel, and he brings the genre alive with a frenetic burst of energy. Perifel, working from a script by Etan Cohen based on the books by Aussie author Aaron Blabey, gives the audience everything a heist movie lover (including myself) could want, right down to the pre-heist montage detailing how impossible the job will be.

The Bad Guys, all anthropomorphic animals of the kind that haunt our nightmares, are a close-knit group of friends who love the thieving lifestyle and the loot it brings but also love each other even if they constantly bicker amongst themselves.

Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell) is the leader of the pack. Channeling George Clooney from Ocean's 11, Wolf has a quick hand and smooth charm. He's also sick and tired of being the villain of every story. Deep down he desires love and acceptance. He doesn't want to be the Big Bad Wolf, instilling terror in everyone he meets. But what to do?

Wolf's best bud is the grumpy Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), the group's safe-cracker and wise-cracker. Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) takes the prize as master of disguise. Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) is the group's muscle and has a unique problem: he farts when he lies. Rounding out the crew is expert computer hacker, Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina). Her pals lovingly call her "Webs" and her eight legs really help when she's hacking multiple systems at once.

When the city's Good Samaritan Gala presents the opportunity for them to steal the "holy grail of thievery," the Golden Dolphin award, they plan their heist but are foiled. When they get caught, Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), a self-important guinea pig entrepreneur, intercedes, hoping to convince Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) to let him run an experiment: teach the Bad Guys to be good "like the icon of love and forgiveness, like Mother Teresa." Incidentally, Saint Mother Teresa is mentioned twice in the film.

When the Bad Guys (to get out of going to jail) go to Marmalade's compound, the not-so-subtle lesson in character development begins. The kids in the audience probably won't even realize they're being taught the value of self-sacrifice, friendship, and that doing things for others rather than oneself actually brings intense satisfaction, so caught up will they be in the funny antics the Bad Guys face as they fight against their long-practiced tendency toward badness. They'll also probably giggle a bit at the flatulence-inspired jokes that come at Piranha's expense.

The voice cast knocks their performances out of the park, especially in the banter between their characters. Unusual in animated films, the actors were sometimes able to record together thus making it easier to play off each other. Anthony Ramos even gets to exercise his singing chops when Piranha takes the stage at the Gala, distracting the authorities from his thieving friends.

With lots of laugh-out-loud twists and turns (including a zombie hoard of mind-controlled guinea pigs), that frankly, might confuse some younger viewers, the film still delivers good values packaged up in a funny, delightful film that just might have you wagging your own tail.

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About the Author

Sister Hosea Rupprecht is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul, a religious community dedicated to evangelization with the media. She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto and an MA in Media Literacy from Webster University in St. Louis.

Sr. Hosea is director of the East Coast office of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, based in Staten Island, NY, and speaks on media literacy and faith to catechists, parents, youth, and young adults. Together with Father Chip Hines, she is the co-host of Searchlight, a Catholic movie review show on Catholic TV. Sr. Hosea is the author of How to Watch Movies with Kids: A Values-Based Strategy, released by Pauline Books & Media.

For the past 15 years, she has facilitated various film dialogues for both children and adults, as well as given presentations on integrating culture, faith and media.

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Ocean’s Eleven meets Fantastic Mr. Fox and Zootopia

Sometimes we think we can tell the “good guys” from the “bad guys,” but most often it is not as easy as what the external shows. That is true with films too. Sometimes we see a trailer and have certain expectations, and then find that the movie was better or worse than we were led to believe. DreamWorks The Bad Guys Christian Movie Review will give you, as the parent, information regarding content before watching this film.

Additionally, I will let you know my overall viewing recommendation and teachable moments within this film. To find out how I do movie reviews, read MORE!

DreamWorks The Bad Guys Christian Movie Review Synopsis:

“Nobody has ever failed so hard at trying to be good as The Bad Guys.”

From DreamWorks “In the new action-comedy from DreamWorks Animation, based on the New York Times best-selling book series, a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws is about to attempt their most challenging con yet—becoming model citizens. Never have there been five friends as infamous as The Bad Guys—dashing pickpocket Mr. Wolf (Academy Award® winner Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), seen-it-all safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron, GLOW), chill master-of-disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson, Hot Tub Time Machine franchise), short-fused “muscle” Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) and sharp-tongued expert hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians), aka “Webs.”

The plot is based on a gang of bad guys (who happen to be friends). These friends plan heists and live the bad life that they happen to enjoy. Mr. Fox (I could not stop thinking of Fantastic Mr. Fox) is the leader of the Bad Guys. Ms. Tarantula is a tech hacker. Mr. Snake acts as the lookout and can even be used in place of a rope.

They plan small heists and get away with it each time. But can Fox, Shark, Tarantula, Piranha, and Snake plan the ultimate heist of stealing The Golden Dolphin which is an award given to the best citizen?

However, to be successful, the band of friends needs to pretend to reform with the help of a “good guy” guinea pig philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade, Paddington 2).

What Parents May Want to Know

DreamWorks The Bad Guys is a fun animated comedy that is witty, snarky, and delightful. While this movie is similar to what we have seen in the past, it is a cute twist on an age-old storyline of the bad guy turning good.

The CalArts style is employed in this film which is overly simplistic. The animals are humanlike, and the humans are odd-looking. The CGI is better than in many films.

Please keep in mind that I list things that I do not find personally objectionable. However, I try to list anything that any parent may not want their child to see or hear.

While the language is mild, there are instances of replacement words used in place of expletives such as “fudge.” The phrase “get the pack out of here” is said.

There were a couple of times that I thought “h-ll” might have been used, but the phrase was uttered in such a way that I couldn’t be sure.

OMG is said. The phrase, “I hate you guys the least” is spoken. Holy Moly is uttered. A person is called a sucker.

An acronym is found on a wall. “S.U.C.M.” Super Ultra Crazy Max? It was on the screen for such a short time. Drop me a comment if you caught what the letters stood for.

This film is full of animated violence. No one is killed despite bombs, explosions, high-speed car chases, kicking, punching, and mobs of animals overtaking people and vehicles. Some animals are tied up and shown being lowered into a pit of moving blades. They are rescued at the last minute.

Additionally, there is robbery, jewelry theft, pickpocketing, and a big heist is planned.

Finally, in the violent category, the snake does ingest other animals and a guinea pig is run over, but appears to be uninjured.

Sexual Content:

2 times male animals lose their pants and are standing in boxer shorts.

The shark (Mr. Shark) is dressed as a woman for the purpose of disguising himself to pull off the heist. While people may consider it “cross-dressing,” it is never implicated to be that.

Wolf, Pirahna, Shark, Snake and Tarantula taking a selfie in The Bad Guys

Spiritual Content:

References to Mother Teresa and a “Good Samaritan” award. Additionally, forgiveness is discussed.

One character mentions meditation. Another character asks, “Is this heaven?”

Guinea pigs have glowing eyes that look possessed. (It is caused by a mind control device).

Teachable Moments: DreamWorks The Bad Guys Christian Movie Review

The words we speak about people (our children, family, friends, and even strangers) have the ability to impact their lives. The “Bad Guys” were never given a chance to be good. Society expected them to be bad so they took on the life of crime. What does the Bible say about our words?

Social Studies:

Stereotypes: This movie is full of stereotypes. A stereotype is a widely held belief. It can be positive or negative and is overgeneralized. Example: Asian Americans are highly intelligent. Women are emotional. However, not all stereotypes are about people. We might believe that everyone gets sick on a cruise or French people are rude. Many times stereotypes are harmful. Discuss stereotypes.

Crime Doesn’t Pay: While much of this movie shows the bad guys getting away with crime and they enjoy doing so. They are rich, dress snazzy, have fun, and outrun the cops. In the end, they do spend time in jail. However, they make simple pickpocketing look fun.

English and Language Arts:

Foreshadowing: What is foreshadowing? It is a warning or indication of a future event. When used in a book or movie, it indicates something that will happen in the future.

At the beginning of the movie, there is a newspaper with the headline “Meteorite on Display.” This information points to a future event.

First, start by studying the animals in the film. Geography – locate where each animal lives and the type of habitat.

Nature Versus Nurture: Are bad guys born or made? This is a lifelong debate. The bad guys are born into a life of thievery just because of who they are. Mr. Wolf is automatically the bad guy in every storybook – Little Red Riding Hood, The 3 Little Pigs with the Big Bad Wolf, and The Gingerbread Boy (eaten by the wolf).

Mr. Shark has his own set of horror stories such as Jaws. Ironically, the author of Jaws says he regrets portraying sharks in such a bad light which resulted in them being hunted and killed in obscene numbers.

Whenever Mr. Wolf does something good he gets a tingly feeling in his tail and his tail wags. It occurs when he feels good such as when he performs good deeds.

There is a piece of art in the movie that is made from trash. In fact, Mr. Wolf and Governor Diane Foxington (the fox) discuss the piece of art that sits outside the building where they are hosting the Good Samaritan Awards. Wolf believes the statue is trash, however, Foxington says, “I think it’s about perspective.” When they view the sculpture from a different angle (the shadow the statue makes on the building), you see a swan.

One idea is to go to an art gallery (or get a book from the library) and have everyone share what they see in a sculpture or painting. How does a piece of art make you feel? Expect everyone to have a different perspective. This is an important lesson for children to learn. What one person loves another may hate.

Viewing Recommendations for The Bad Guys Christian Movie Review

While this movie is mild by today’s standards, there may be things that bother small children. My age recommendation is ages 7 and up. In fact, I do think younger children may be upset by the snake eating hundreds of guinea pigs or the glowing eyes of the guinea pigs.

Furthermore, items that were once considered funny in Looney Tunes cartoons such as Bugs Bunny dressing as a woman are now a touchy subject matter for some families.

Notable line

Diane Foxington: …This is a chance to write your own story. To find a better life for you and your friends.”

Movie Info and MPAA Rating

Release Date: April 22, 2022

Rating PG for action and rude humor

Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes

The Bad Guys is an animated Adventure Comedy

Tagline: Good is No Fun at All

Cast of The Bad Guys

Director: Pierre Perifel

Producer: Damon Ross, Rebecca Huntley

Executive Producer: Aaron Blabey, Ethan Cohen, Patrick Hughes

Mr. Wolf Sam Rockwell

Mr. Snake Marc Maron

Mr. Shark Craig Robinson

Mr. Piranha Anthony Ramos

Ms. Tarantula Awkwafina

Professor Marmalade Richard Ayoade

Diane Foxington AKA The Crimson Paw Zazie Beetz

Tiffany Fluffit Lilly Singh

Police chief Misty Luggins Alex Borstein

Old Lady Barbara Goodson

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is the bad guys streaming anywhere.

The film releases on April 22, 2022 into theaters. Eventually, the film will stream on Peacock, the NBC Universal Streaming Service. Eventually, it is set to stream on Netflix. Dates have not been announced at this time.

Where Can I watch The Bad Guys?

Currently, Dreamworks The Bad Guys is only in theaters.

Is The Bad Guys movie on Disney+?

No, The Bad Guys is a Dreamworks movie and not a Disney movie. At one point, Walt Disney Studios and Dreamworks had a distribution agreement, but that ended in 2016.

Who is the leader of The Bad Guys?

Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell) is the leader of the Bad Guys gang.

Is The Bad Guys movie based on a book?

Yes, the movie is based on the Scholastic book series by Aaron Blabey. These books (graphic novels) are aimed at books and girls 6-10 years old. Reading levels: Grade 2-5. Additionally, they are the #1 New York Times best-selling children’s book series.

In the book, Mr. Piranha is from Bolivia.

The DreamWorks logo has Mr. Wolf climb to the moon with a grapple gun to replace the fisher boy in the logo.

In the books, Mr. Wolf’s first name is Moe.

What animals wear pajamas in the film?

Mr. Wolf wears a sheep pajama references the phrase “a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He is literally (at that point in the film) a wolf in sheepskin.

Mr. Snake wears unicorn pajamas.

Miss Taranatula wears blue cat pajamas.

Mr. Piranha wears bear pajamas.

Mr. Shark wears purple walrus pajamas

What is the references to George Clooney?

Mr. Wolf: Time to launch the charm offensive.

Mr. Shark: oh yeah! The full Clooney

Is Mr. Wolf played by George Clooney?

Unfortunately, Mr. Wolf is not George Clooney. However, the director said, “Wolf was supposed to be that kind of charming guy, and the usual suspect would have been George Clooney.”

What city does The Bad Guys take place?

There is a map shown during the movie. While it seems that the map is of San Diego, it appears to be set in Southern California (potentially Los Angeles or San Diego).

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Movie review: ‘The Bad Guys’

The heist genre gets a fresh burst of frenetic energy with the animated comedy “The Bad Guys” (Universal). This high-octane, older-kid-friendly caper is veteran animator Pierre Perifel’s feature debut — and the neophyte director nails it.

Mr. Wolf (voice of Sam Rockwell) leads the pack with a quick hand and smooth charm. His best bud, Mr. Snake (voice of Marc Maron), cracks wise even as he cracks safes.

Fundamentally, though, “The Bad Guys” delivers good values wrapped up in a funny package. It will make a rollicking treat for all but the youngest.

— Sister Hosea Rupprecht

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The laughs are easy and breezy at the beginning of “The Bad Guys,” and the animated comedy’s sun-baked vibe radiates Southern California cool.

A wolf named Wolf and a snake named Snake enjoy snappy banter at a retro L.A. diner, having the kind of conversation they’ve probably had countless times over their years of friendship. They push and pull, jostle and tug, all in good-natured fashion. Then they get up, stroll casually across the street, and rob a bank. Pierre Perifel , making his feature directing debut, lays all of this out in one long, single take, instantly drawing us in to these characters and this world. It's an extremely familiar set-up, a subgenre unto itself: hyper-verbal thieves charm us into coming along for the ride and rooting for them to pull off their biggest heist yet. This is a furry, scaly version of Quentin Tarantino or Elmore Leonard —or at least, that’s what it aspires to be. But it’s a clever change to see such a story told in animated form with a star-studded voice cast including Sam Rockwell , Marc Maron , Zazie Beetz , and Awkwafina.

This opening scene of “The Bad Guys” is its strongest, and it offers great promise. But the wise-cracking, fast-talking energy that was once so buoyant grows increasingly strained as the story evolves and reaches its frenzied conclusion.

Based on the kids’ graphic novel series by Aaron Blabey , “The Bad Guys” follows a group of fun-loving criminals who lean into their rap as the villains of the animal kingdom for thrills and profit. Wolf (voiced by a smooth Rockwell) is their charismatic leader, with unmistakable shades of Danny Ocean. (In case the similarities weren’t obvious, he repeatedly gets compared to George Clooney .) Snake (a gravelly, earthy Marc Maron) is the cranky but loyal safecracker. Shark ( Craig Robinson ) is the enthusiastic master of disguise, but the amusing running bit is that it’s always totally obvious he’s a shark. Tarantula (Awkwafina) is the speedy and resourceful hacker, an assignment where it would indeed be useful to have eight arms. And the main skill the quick-tempered Piranha ( Anthony Ramos ) seems to bring is toxic flatulence, which at first seems like a gratuitous gag to make kids in the audience giggle, but it ends up being a surprisingly cohesive through-line in the script from Etan Cohen (“ Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ”). (It’s still gross, though.)

After they get caught trying to steal a valuable statue from a swanky gala, the notorious Bad Guys agree to clean up their act with the help of the celebrated, philanthropic guinea pig Professor Marmalade (a perky Richard Ayoade ) in order to avoid jail time. The tiny, prissy rodent lives in a gargantuan, cliffside mansion made for a Bond villain, our first clue that perhaps not everything is as simple as it seems. The team gets some cover from the governor, Diane Foxington (Beetz), who wants to see them go straight; she also happens to share a playful flirtation with Wolf. But Wolf’s scheme is for the Bad Guys to pretend they’ve become good guys in order to trick everyone and remain ... bad. Sound good?

The animation is colorful and lively—almost incessant, really—and the physical comedy is at its most inspired when it subtly toys with the natural instincts of these anthropomorphized creatures: the way Snake sheds his skin mid-heist, for example, or how Tarantula walks across a fingerprinting pad when the gang gets booked into jail. For a big chunk of the film, we literally have a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as the group’s leader is forced to dress in a cuddly lamb onesie as part of his rehabilitation. It’s good for a chuckle, at first.

But the midsection feels saggy and the early zip and swagger wear thin. Still, there are some useful notions here about second chances and redemption, as well as upending people’s perceptions to emerge as the best possible version of yourself. Sounds facile, but the script handles these themes with some intelligence. At the very least, “The Bad Guys” encourages kids not to judge a book by its cover—and maybe even read an actual book about these characters afterward.

Now playing in theaters.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

The Bad Guys (2022)

Rated PG for action and rude humor.

100 minutes

Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf (voice)

Marc Maron as Mr. Snake (voice)

Craig Robinson as Mr. Shark (voice)

Anthony Ramos as Mr. Piranha (voice)

Awkwafina as Ms. Tarantula (voice)

Richard Ayoade as Professor Marmalade (voice)

Zazie Beetz as Diane Foxington (voice)

Lilly Singh as Tiffany Fluffit (voice)

Alex Borstein as Police Chief Misty Luggins (voice)

Walt Dohrn as Scientist / Gala Guest 3 (voice)

Pierre Perifel

Writer (based on the books by)

Aaron Blabey
Hilary Winston
Yoni Brenner
John Venzon
Daniel Pemberton

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5 Lessons For Kids And Adults From The New Movie “The Bad Guys”

by Fr. Edward Looney Family , Movie Reviews and Recommendations

Children learn lessons from books and movies they watch. Besides reading and watching religious things, sometimes secular books and movies can also convey moral lessons. Aaron Blabey authored the New York Times best-selling graphic novel series The Bad Guys for his children and he hoped they would walk away better people after considering the themes in the book.

The Bad Guys | Official Trailer

5 Lessons From The Bad Guys

The books have been turned into a new animated movie that hit theaters on April 22 allowing the original message to reach even more people, adults included. I had the chance to pre-screen The Bad Guys and these are a few lessons I took away and others will too.

1. Certain things won’t fill you. The Bad Guys tells the story of a band of characters who have completed heists and stockpiled the stolen goods. In their latest heist, they get caught and are arrested. A quote that I jotted down was this: “Money can’t fill what you are looking for.” The Governor tells this to The Bad Guys and she isn’t wrong. It’s a lesson we all need to learn and be reminded of, that earthly things and pleasures will never completely satisfy us. Heavenly things will. In the end it is love that will last for eternity.

2. What motivates you to be good? The thought of going to jail mortified The Bad Guys . That’s when a plot is hatched to pretend to be good so that they could avoid jail time. The professor mentors The Bad Guys and teaches them how to be more upstanding members of the community. As the movie progresses, a friendship with the Governor encourages Mr. Wolf to make good decisions too. Being good itself should be a motivation, but other factors can help us make the choice to choose living a good and moral life.

3. Examine Your Actions and Friendships . Sometimes questions posed to us might help us toward introspection. The Governor asked Mr. Wolf, “Don’t you ever get tired of lying?” There also comes a point where a person wants to choose the good life because of ongoing conversion and they have to examine their friendships and choices and decide how to proceed if they truly want to embrace the good life. This is played out on the screen several times in the film.

4. Sometimes we will make mistakes In the path to goodness and letting go of the bad, there may be times where we slip up and fall back into bad habits. This is a moment not to give up but to recommit and begin again. The Bad Guys definitely are not perfect and slip up, but they keep trying to pull off being good.

5. Goodness will become a part of you. The Bad Guys do such a good job at trying to be good that it almost becomes innate for the characters. Near the end of the film, one character gives a push pop to another character. This surprises everyone, even the one who gave it as he tries to diminish it. But then he says something to the effect of, “I put your needs before mine by making a small sacrifice.” It seems the lessons in being good began to effect their lives.

There are a lot of surprises that will keep you guessing in The Bad Guys and many lessons about conversion and redemption. If these are lessons you want to convey to your children or grandchildren and need a reminder for yourself, then The Bad Guys is the movie or book to do just that.

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Mr. Shark steals the Mona Lisa in The Bad Guys

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The animated heist movie The Bad Guys steals from all the right places

It’s derivative and goofy, but it stays lively by mashing up Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph, and decades of crime movies

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Two major signatures of DreamWorks Animation productions are frenetic action sequences and “adult” pop-culture references. Not all their movies heavily feature both, though many do — this is a studio that turned The Boss Baby , a fanciful children’s picture book about sibling rivalry , into a yammering, scattered comedy with Glengarry Glen Ross references and, in its recent sequel, an explosives-laden, highly destructive vehicle chase.

The new DreamWorks cartoon The Bad Guys is also based on a series of children’s books, and it seems to follow a similarly noisy pattern: It has an opening scene derived from Pulp Fiction or something out of Steven Soderbergh, leading straight into, yes, a raucous car chase. And of course, Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell) gets the audience up to speed by addressing them directly: What would DreamWorks movies be without narrated exposition in the first 10 minutes?

And yet since this is a heist movie, director Pierre Perifel knows it’s the details that matter. That opening scene, where Mr. Wolf and his best friend Mr. Snake (Marc Maron) chat in a diner about Mr. Snake’s hatred of birthdays and why guinea pigs taste so good, doesn’t reference Pulp Fiction by whipping out “Misirlou” on the soundtrack or mentioning the Royale with Cheese. Instead, the scene takes its time, letting the characters banter before revealing, in a single animated “take,” that the diner staff’s and patrons have all been cowering off-screen as the fearsome bad guys finish eating. The virtual camera then follows Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake across the street, where they knock over a bank.

Mr. Shark, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake (Marc Maron) in costume and surrounded by cops in The Bad Guys

The freneticism of the ensuing car chase is leavened by the intentionally choppy, mix-and-match animation style . The characters’ designs look vaguely three-dimensional, but with simpler, flatter eyes; a more paint-like texture for skin and fur; and comic book-esque graphic accents on their more extreme motions. They look drawn, rather than expensively rendered.

As with the more grown-up heist movies that precede it, the style goes a long way toward enlivening a story that may seem familiar to cartoon fans young and old. Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake are part of a notorious criminal gang — also including Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) — that eventually attempts to go straight. In other words, these are bad guys who are unexpectedly given the opportunity to improve themselves (like in Despicable Me ) and break out of the villainous role that society assigned them (like in Wreck-It Ralph ) based on the harmful stereotypes of their animal characteristics (like in Zootopia ). This isn’t even the first time DreamWorks has gone to this well; its movie Megamind features a supervillain discovering his inner goodness.

Simply removing The Bad Guys from a superhero/supervillain context, however, helps distinguish it from its many predecessors. Perifel really does seem interested in making a kid-friendly heist/caper picture, with all the cons and twists that entails. Mr. Wolf experiences doubt over whether he should continue to pursue a life of crime, but when he initially convinces Governor Foxington (Zazie Beetz) to release his captured gang into the custody of known philanthropist Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade) to be reformed, he has future heisting possibilities in mind. Other characters have secret agendas of their own.

These reversals and double-crosses are all set in a bizarre hybrid environment where humans and some animals interact on equal social footing. (There are still smaller animals, like guinea pigs and kittens, who don’t speak or walk upright.) This not fully realized world, where side characters scarcely seem to exist outside the background of various capers, lends The Bad Guys an unpredictable whimsicality as it adapts heist roles for cartoon animals. Some of the innovations are clever (Mr. Snake sheds his skin to switch outfits), and some are amusingly absurd (Mr. Shark, the largest and least discreet of the group, is the designated master of disguise).

Mr. Shark and Mr. Wolf escape a massive explosion in The Bad Guys

The Bad Guys ’ imitation of grown-up movies isn’t always pitch-perfect. The attempts at sly banter between Mr. Wolf and Governor Foxington are just OK — more theoretically cute than conversationally sharp. It goes down easy, though, with the playful insinuation of Rockwell’s distinctive vocal tones. (His dexterous real-life dance moves survive the transition to animation, too.) Maron also does fine work as the gruff, misanthropic Mr. Snake.

It’s all pretty lightweight stuff, and after recent mainstream triumphs like Turning Red and Encanto from two different arms of Disney, The Bad Guys may well shore up DreamWorks’ status as the B-squad of contemporary American animation, where spectacle is the default and emotional growth is a little pat. But the better DreamWorks cartoons come alive when they’re liberated from Disney formulas, rather than chasing after or self-consciously spoofing them. Even when The Bad Guys resembles other movies, it’s stealing from them gracefully, with its own sensibility and energy.

The Bad Guys is available for rental at Amazon , Vudu , and other digital platforms.

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DVD & Streaming

The Bad Guys

Action/Adventure , Animation , Comedy , Crime , Kids

Content Caution

In Theaters

April 22, 2022
Sam Rockwell as Wolf; Marc Maron as Snake; Awkwafina as Tarantula; Craig Robinson as Shark; Anthony Ramos as Piranha; Richard Ayoade as Professor Marmalade; Zazie Beetz as Diane Foxington; Alex Borstein as Police Chief Misty Luggins; Lilly Singh as Tiffany Fluffit

Home Release Date

May 12, 2022
Pierre Perifel

Distributor

Universal Pictures

Movie Review

If there’s one thing that Wolf, Snake, Tarantula, Shark and Piranha have in common, it’s that you don’t want to encounter any of them in the wild. But as far as they’re concerned, that’s OK.

“Do I wish people didn’t see us as monsters?” Wolf quips. “Sure, I do. But these are the cards we’ve been dealt, so we might as well play them.”

Society never gave these five a chance, so they decided to take on a life of crime and mischief. And they’ve gotten pretty good at it. They relish news reports labeling them dastardly and diabolical . And those news outlets ain’t seen nothin’ yet: The Bad Guys are about to pull off a heist that no other criminal crew has ever accomplished.

What’s the target? Well, they hope to steal the Golden Dolphin, the award given to the year’s “goodest” citizen. It’s the epitome of good for the best of the best. Looting it from under everyone’s noses is sure to cement them asnot just any bad guys, but the Bad Guys.

But then something unexpected happens: After Wolf accidentally does a good deed for another person, he finds that he actually likes it. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to try being, dare he say it, the Good Guys ? And though it’s hard enough to convince himself and his crew to try it out, there’s still that societal problem that caused them to go bad to begin with.

“I’m the villain of every story,” Wolf says. “Guilty until proven innocent. Even if by some miracle, we did change, who’s gonna believe us?”

Positive Elements

The Bad Guys , at its core, mixes the nature vs. nurture debate with the problem of societal stereotyping. Most people in the city, the Bad Guys included, subscribe to a generally universal acceptance of the nature side of the debate, leading to the Bad Guys being stereotyped as the villains of the story. Whether it’s as the Big Bad Wolf in the story Three Little Pigs , or movies like Jaws or Piranha , the Bad Guys have been typecast since before they were born. The prejudices of the general public are so extreme that a reporter says, “You should always judge a book by its cover, and all stereotypes have been affirmed.”

But not everyone in the city feels that real character change is impossible. If the last name didn’t give it away, Governor Diane Foxington is a fox—if you’ve seen Zootopia , you know the bad rap foxes get for being sneaky and sly self-seekers. As someone who had to prove herself to society and overcome her own stereotypes, Diane is in the business of helping people realize that they don’t have to play by the script society has assigned them.

This is most prominently explored in how Wolf and Diane discuss a piece of art outside the Good Samaritan Awards. Wolf takes a single glance at the rust-covered statue, calling it “trashy, pointless and pretentious.” But Diane doesn’t see it that way. “I think it’s about perspective,” she says, pointing Wolf toward the shadow of a swan the sculpture is making. “If you look closely enough, even trash can be recycled into something beautiful.” As Wolf begins to embrace making good choices, he realizes exactly what Diane meant.

Wolf feels good when he does selfless actions. Indeed, another character named Professor Marmalade teaches the Bad Guys that being good feels good, and it includes paying attention to other peoples’ needs before your own and paying attention to the needs of others in the first place. And while this is all true, the movie still warns us that just because something feels good doesn’t mean that it is good.

Throughout the movie, the Bad Guys feel tingly when they do good, causing their respective tails, fins or abdomens to wiggle. However, one character exclaims that he gets the s ame tingly feeling whenever he does bad, selfish actions, too.

This scene warns viewers not to base objective moral good on fickle emotions, which can be misleading. And its inclusion could also serve as a great discussion starter for parents and kids regarding what it means to be good, as well as how to discern personal feelings and desires from objective morality.

Spiritual Elements

An annual awards ceremony is called the “Good Samaritan Awards,” referencing the biblical story found in Luke 10.

Sexual Content

Various male characters have their pants pulled down or torn from them for comedic effect, exposing their boxers. Wolf mentions that grappling hooks have a propensity to tear off your pants accidentally. A criminal known as Crimson Paw tells Wolf to wear clean underwear just in case.

Professor Marmalade, the recipient of the Golden Dolphin award, owns a stone statue whose private area is covered by an etched leaf. Many characters say that a meteorite, which is in the shape of a heart, looks like a rear end, and they refer to it as the “butt rock.” An alias on Piranha’s rap sheet calls him the “Butt Biter.” In one scene, Wolf dances with Diane, and the two share a romantic glance. Wolf kisses Diane’s paw when he introduces himself.

During a heist, Shark dresses as a woman, wearing a dress, pearls, lipstick and heels. Shark also throws his drink on the ground to simulate a woman’s water breaking and pretends to start having contractions in order to distract security guards.

Violent Content

The movie’s nonstop, slapstick violence imposes little visible injury on anyone involved. The Bad Guys rob a bank and flee the police, many of whom crash their cars in the pursuit. During a heist, the Bad Guys incapacitate various guards or workers by tying them up or knocking them unconscious. A laser gun destroys a statue.

A meteor crashed into the city a year prior, leaving a massive crater. Snake and Shark fight over a popsicle on a couple occasions, and Shark eats Snake (though Snake is unbothered by this and appears fine in the next scene). Snake eats a massive quantity of guinea pigs, and he is forced to spit them out as Wolf twirls him like a lasso, sending the guinea pigs flying. Police Chief Misty Luggins accidently slams Snake’s tail into a briefcase. Snake gets kicked in the face. His rap sheet explains that he ate all the animals in a man’s pet store.

Piranha accidently knocks Shark out with a grappling hook. Wolf is hit by a semi-truck. A scared cat claws at Wolf’s face. Wolf is electrocuted. In a moment of anger, Wolf yells that he will kill Professor Marmalade. Snake and Wolf fight. The Crimson Paw defeats prison guards with martial arts and causes a large explosion.

A truck runs over a guinea pig (the guinea pig briefly appears as roadkill, but it springs up unaffected). A tsunami that’s comprised of thousands of guinea pigs destroys parts of the city.

Crude or Profane Language

The acronym “OMG” is used once. Wolf uses “pack” to substitute a cruder word: “Let’s make like a wolf and get the pack out of here.” Professor Marmalade calls the Bad Guys “walking garbage.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Shark takes two alcoholic beverages from a man, and he uses one to splash onto the ground. A gala contains a bar with alcoholic drinks. Wolf sprays cops with champagne to impede their pursuit.

Other Negative Elements

There’s plenty of general toilet humor here, of course. Piranha passes gas throughout the film, and the gas causes people to pass out. Piranha makes a reference to Wolf drinking out of a toilet.

The Bad Guys pickpocket items from the general public. They’re also sent to break into an animal testing lab (which conducts tests on regular, non-anthropomorphic animals). Professor Marmalade mentions evolution as the reason why the Bad Guys are pegged as the bad guys.

Snake swallows items to carry them inside himself, and he vomits them to get them out. Snake says guinea pigs are his favorite meal and that a guinea pig’s cuteness is what makes them taste so good. “You’re eating pure goodness,” Snake says. “It’s not about the pig, it’s about what it symbolizes on a deeper level.” Snake spits on the ground.

Rumors indicated that a sequel to Zootopia would arrive in late 2021. While those rumors didn’t pan out, The Bad Guys could definitely serve as a sister film to the animated hit.

Unlike Zootopia ’s heroic protagonist, Judy Hopps, The Bad Guys follows the less savory members of society: the Wolf, the Tarantula, the Snake, the Piranha and the Shark. They’re the villains of the story and they serve as a warning in fables: They’re not just bad guys, but the Bad Guys.

But the film suggests that their criminal past isn’t entirely their fault. They live in a society that struggles with some prejudices—ones that have declared them to be villains even before they were born; it’s hard to convince people that you’re friendly when all they can think of is the Big Bad Wolf.

So how do Wolf, Tarantula, Snake, Piranha and Shark feel about this typecasting? Well, having society calling them monsters from birth certainly isn’t the nicest thing to hear. But they figure that they can take a lesson from Catch- 22 ’s Doc Daneeka: If everyone describes you as such and treats you as such, then perhaps that’s who you really are. As they’ve accepted that truism, the Bad Guys have unwittingly fulfilled the stereotypes everyone’s lumped them into. In fact, those prejudices are so deeply rooted within themselves that they take insults as compliments—as if they’re being acknowledged for perfecting their predetermined craft.

But just how predetermined is their craft? It’s the culture which has told them to be bad because that’s how animals of their type are. What if Wolf doesn’t want to be the bad guy anymore? What if he was able to change and be a good guy? Even after that, would anyone in the city believe him, or would they just continue assuming that he’s up to no good because that’s simply what wolves do?

The Bad Guys doesn’t break any new ground when contrasted with Zootopia ’s similar look into societal stereotyping and the nature vs. nurture debate. But it does introduce a new perspective into this ongoing conversation via an entertaining, family-friendly experience. While the slapstick violence and toilet humor remind us that the movie is for children, it provides a refreshing breath of air for parents who simply want a new movie with a good message that’s appropriate for their kids.

Who’d have thought that movie would center on five master thieves?

Kennedy Unthank

Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”

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The Bad Guys Reviews

The humor is sometimes quite juvenile, but who doesn’t enjoy well executed fart jokes?

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 5, 2023

A thrilling amount of fun! I laughed, I smiled, & I even got that warm fuzzy feeling the bad guys got! A fantastic message about not judging a book by its cover & even why we should be good!

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

…the notion of rejecting societal labelling and finding your own way through experience is thoughtfully developed here, and there’s enough humour to keep the kids engaged…

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 3, 2022

It looks really good. It's got a really good visual style... the story is serviceable but uninteresting and incredibly predictable, and the characters are fine... And if it matters to anybody, my 10 year old had basically the same assessment as me.

Full Review | Sep 11, 2022

The brilliant heist storyline makes for a fun action flick, it's easily my favorite animated crime caper I've seen so far. The terrific voice cast and delightful characters make this one a real winner.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 2, 2022

There’s nothing particularly innovative here and it’s not as funny as I had hoped. But there’s a good chemistry between our reluctant heroes that makes them fun to spend time with. And the animation style is inspired and more often than not quite good.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 16, 2022

An adaptation of the children’s novels by Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys is a return to form for DreamWorks Animation, yet also the promise of a bold new direction for the prolific studio.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Jul 26, 2022

Like a kiddie 'Ocean's Eleven' (the villains are the protagonists) it's frantic but for the most part it's also unfunny so it winds up being a starter heist movie for grade schoolers.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 21, 2022

...a breezy if overblown adaptation of the Aaron Blabey children’s book series.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 7, 2022

As a whole, this is medium-functioning family entertainment that’s content to amuse without exerting too much creative ambition. It’s not always memorable, but it works for the most part.

Full Review | Jul 1, 2022

I’m in; the cleverness of the script keeps the audience entertained.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 30, 2022

It’ll get the kids thinking about why we don’t always give people who have gotten in trouble with the law the benefit of the doubt to change, which is a nice little filter to grow them up on. After that, it’s just a fun heist riff, a furry Ocean’s 11.

Full Review | Jun 28, 2022

Pierre Perifel's feature directorial debut, "The Bad Guys," manages to take all the things you love about Steven Soderbergh, Guy Ritchie, and Quentin Tarantino's crime movies and puts them in animated form.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 27, 2022

With unique animation and a punchy story, this is a fun family adventure.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 24, 2022

It develops a fun story in a stylised and accelerated way, introducing us to a charismatic group of characters, and conveying messages related to friendship and redemption. Full review in Spanish.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 11, 2022

The Bad Guys is a good time for its slick style, solid characters, and stealing from the best heist films. The strong ingredients make for a pleasing if not light animated affair.

Full Review | Jun 11, 2022

Fun for the whole family, The Bad Guys easily wins you over with its heart and humour.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 10, 2022

Younger viewers will likely be hooked on the sizzle of the film...

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 5, 2022

Among the voice actors, the revelation is Maron, who’s note-perfect as Snake, the most cynical member of the gang — a gruff, cantankerous voice that keeps “The Bad Guys” from slipping into phony melodramatics.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 29, 2022

The strength of the film... is how it uses negative stereotypes to build a positive story, showing that change is possible and that we don’t have to accept the cards we are dealt in life.

Full Review | May 26, 2022

Entertainment

‘The Bad Guys’ movie review: Animated villains are all good fun

Movie review.

“We may be bad, but we’re so good at it.”

He’s got that right.

Mr. Wolf, the lupine leader of the larcenous critters at the center of the delightful animated comedy “The Bad Guys,” knows whereof he speaks.

His crew, the sinuous safecracker Mr. Snake (voiced by Marc Maron), the speedily nimble-limbed computer hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), the splenetic sharp-toothed Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and the ever-hungry Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) go about their wayward ways with undisguised glee. Panicked people run screaming when they see this mob coming, which brings fang-filled grins to their avaricious faces.

Crime is fun, and no one enjoys it more than the snappily dressed Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell). But there’s an angry edge to his enjoyment as he acknowledges that wolfkind is “the villain of every story! Guilty until proven innocent!” He and his associates have a rep, perhaps not entirely deserved, so they may as well live up to it.

What we have here is a classic caper picture — dream big, steal bigger — in which Mr. Wolf experiences twinges of conscience that cause him no end of agita. Could doing good possibly feel better than being bad? Hmmm. An unanticipated feel-good sensation manifests itself in a telltale waggle of his wolfy tail. Very embarrassing. And also very funny.

Based on a series of children’s graphic novels by Australian author Aaron Blabey, “The Bad Guys” is sharply scripted (by Etan Cohen) and propulsively directed (by Pierre Perifel). It’s fast on its feet, which is quite a feat considering that one of its main characters — that would be Mr. Snake — has none. Feet, that is. That lack is offset by Ms. Tarantula, who has limbs to spare. And the rapid-fire pitter-patter of those spidery digits over computer keyboards is a comical running gag throughout.

The awakening of Mr. Wolf’s conscience is prompted by the story’s sexy governor (Zazie Beetz), who is a true fox, and a plump, diminutive philanthropist guinea pig (Richard Ayoade), whose motivations are strangely obscure.

The heists in the picture are several and complex (a museum piece is purloined), and the fortunes of the heistmeisters are varied. Which is to say they get busted a lot and then improbably set free to heist again.

The plotting consistently surprises as double-crosses abound. And the set-piece action sequences (car chases a specialty here) are quite something. A mass attack of hypnotized guinea pigs is a jaw-dropper.

The characters are well-defined and Rockwell holds the picture together as he conveys Mr. Wolf’s shifting emotional states: suave, vexed and morally conflicted. Kids will love “The Bad Guys” and there’s plenty of substance for adults as well.

With the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Zazie Beetz, Anthony Ramos, Craig Robinson, Richard Ayoade, Alex Borstein. Directed by Pierre Perifel, from a screenplay by Etan Cohen, based on a series of children’s graphic novels by Aaron Blabey. 100 minutes. Rated PG for action and rude humor. Opens April 21 at multiple theaters.

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Sam rockwell and awkwafina in ‘the bad guys’: film review.

Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos and Zazie Beetz are among other voice talents in this animated heist movie featuring animal criminals.

By Frank Scheck

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(from left) Tarantula (Awkwafina), Snake (Marc Maron), Shark (Craig Robinson), Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and Wolf (Sam Rockwell) in DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys, directed by Pierre Perifel.

“I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way,” famously declared Jessica Rabbit.

The same can’t be said for the eponymous characters in the new DreamWorks Animation action comedy that gives small fry a heist movie they can relate to. This criminal gang of anthropomorphized animals — led by pickpocket Mr. Wolf ( Sam Rockwell ) and including safecracker Mr. Snake ( Marc Maron ), disguise expert Mr. Shark ( Craig Robinson ), hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), and explosive and very pungent farter Mr. Piranha ( Anthony Ramos ) — resembles a cross between the one in Reservoir Dogs and the Ocean’s bunch.

The Bad Guys

Release date : Friday, April 22

Cast : Sam Rockewell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Lilly Singh, Alex Bornstein

Director : Pierre Perifel

Screenwriter : Etan Cohen

The film directed by Pierre Perifel leans heavily into those comparisons, beginning with a diner scene parodying the opener of Pulp Fiction and having the insouciant Wolf, clad in an immaculate white suit, resemble Danny Ocean so closely that at one point another character accuses him of going “full Clooney.”

Full credits

Production company: Dreamworks Animation, Universal Pictures Distributor: Universal Pictures Cast: Sam Rockewell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Lilly Singh, Alex Bornstein Director: Pierre Perifel Screenwriter: Etan Cohen Producers: Damon Ross, Rebecca Huntley Executive producers: Etan Cohen, Aaron Blabey, Patrick Hughes Production designer: Luc Desmarchelier Editor: John Venzon Composer: Daniel Pemberton

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The Bad Guys (2022) Review

GO BAD OR GO HOME!

DreamWorks Animation Studios has had their ups and downs in their releases, finding their cartoon endeavors of a mixed variety from the highest highs to the mediocre lows. The studio has produced some of the finest (and most memorable) animated films such as Shrek , Kung Fu Panda and, How to Train Your Dragon ; finding each one to have their own unique personal visual aesthetics between cinematic storytelling and lovable characters. Even some of their own “stand alone” endeavors such as Shark’s Tale , Over the Hedge , and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie have had celebration of garnishing praise from critics, moviegoers, and box office results. However, DreamWorks has had its fair share of unfavorable releases, with some of the most forgetful features such as Home , Bee Movie , and Turbo . Perhaps the instability of their releases rest upon the decision of this comes down to its overall studio distribution, with DreamWorks Animation being handled by several studios, including DreamWorks Pictures (from inception to 2005), then Paramount Pictures from 2006-2012, then 20 th Century Fox from 2013-2017, and now (currently) under Universal Pictures. Regardless, it looks like DreamWorks is struggling to find a proper footing with its “hit or miss” releases. Now, after 2021 release of The Boss Baby: Family Business , DreamWorks Animation Studios and director Pierre Perifel prepare to release the latest animated feature film with the movie Bad Guys ; loosely based off the books of the same name by author Aaron Blabey. Does this cartoon motion picture rides high or is it time for the animated studio to call it quits?

Living the good life by being bad, the Bad Guys are a gang of criminals who enjoying their reputations and relish the crime spree around the big city. The team, who includes Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and, while they deal with their differences of opinions and personalities, they’re united in their special skills in thievery. Learning that the coveted Gold Dolphin award is about to be presented to famed Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), the Bad Guys make a play to take the valuable prize during the ceremony, hoping to humiliate Police Chief Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein) and the newly appointed Governor Foxington (Zazie Beetz) in the process. When the heist goes sour, Marmalade proposes something unique rehabilitation for the gang, offering the thieving ragtag team lessons on how to be good, hoping to reach their hearts and prove that fundamental change is possible…no matter the person. While Wolf is initially dismissive of the situation and playing along with Marmalade gimmick, he learns that the positive ways actually work, putting him at odds with his fellow team, who show less interest in this particular training. So, the question remains…. can a bad guy become good?

THE GOOD / THE BAD

Much like what I said in my opening paragraph, I believe that DreamWorks Animation has been going through a series of ups and downs. When it was first beginning, I believe it to be an animated powerhouse, with the company rivaling Pixar and other Disney movies, especially after the “House of Mouse’s” second renaissance era of the 90s. Movie releases like Shrek , Kung Fu Panda , Shark’s Tale , and How to Train Your Dragon I would deem to be some of the top-tier releases that the studio had to offer from the late 90s to the late 2000s era, with some branching out to deliver solid sequels (i.e. Shrek 2 , Kung Fu Panda 2 and How to Train Your Dragon 2 ). Heck, even some of its non-3D animated cartoon features (more traditional style 2D animation) like The Road to El Dorado and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas proved to be quite effective endeavors that barred fruit and popularity amongst its viewers. That being said, DreamWorks did start to show signs of decline sometime after early 2010s, with several releases that I found either poorly done and / or mediocre endeavors. Films like Bee Movie , Home , and Turbo (the ones I mention above) are just terrible in my opinion and are just pretty “meh”. As stated, it was probably due to the studio’s distribution handling several times over that caused this influx of popular movies releases. And don’t get me started on all the various spin-off TV shows that were done with such “blech” animation. Yet, despite those ups and downs, DreamWorks still has managed (as of late) delivered some good animated features in the late 2010s / early 2020s era, with releases like How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World , Abominable , and Croods: A New Age . To that end, I say that DreamWorks Animation Studios has had a bumpy road through the past two decades, but has endured and produced a good decent number of animated features and doesn’t show to be stopping any time soon.

Naturally, this brings me back to talking about The Bad Guys , a 2022 animated film and the latest offering from DreamWorks Animation Studios. To be honest, I really didn’t give this film any particular hype or anything like that. I think I do remember hearing that a movie was going to be made out of popular children’s series, for I used to work in a bookstore and do remember seeing the title of these books from author Aaron Blabey (though I never picked them up and read them). That was pretty much it. I think I briefly saw the film’s movie trailer and it looked pretty straightforward, with the feature’s main cast of characters (who are bad guys) trying a hand at being good. This particular scenario has been played out many times over, especially in children’s entertainment, so I really didn’t give much credence, or any look over as much as should. Basically, I thought that the movie was going to be a generic “run-of-the-mill” endeavor….and nothing less. So, that’s probably why I didn’t post the film’s movie trailer up on my blog. Thus, I remember when The Bad Guys got released in theaters on April 22 nd , 2022, but I held back from seeing it right away, especially because my work schedule got a little bit as well as my backlog catalogue of doing delayed movie reviews, which (of course) this particular falls into. However, after word of mouth about this movie and seeing a lot of positive reviews about it, I decided to check out The Bad Guys several weeks after its initial release. Unfortunately, with my workload taking a bit more elongated and heavy, my review for The Bad Guys got delayed and I kept on pushing it back for some time. Now, with finally a moment to catch my breath and play “catch up”, I have the time to share my personal thoughts and opinions on this animated film. And what did I think of it? Well, I was surprised how much I liked this movie. Despite a few formulaic and predictable nuances, The Bad Guys is slick and hilarious animated endeavor that plays to the strengths of its voice cast as well as being a entertaining cartoon heist escapades that’s well worth it. It may not beat out DreamWorks upper echelon of popular / memorable releases, but it certainly comes close to doing so…..and that’s a good thing!

The Bad Guys is directed by Pierre Perifel, who makes his theatrical feature length directorial debut with the film. Given his background as an animator for several DreamWorks projects such as Monsters vs. Aliens , Rise of the Guardians , and Shrek Forever After , Perifel seems like a suitable choice to helm the studio’s latest film project, especially since he has an understanding of how a DreamWorks movie is to be put together and executed. In this regard, I definitely believe that Perifel did a fantastic job in establishing (and almost leaving his mark) on the studio’s theatrical cartoon releases in The Bad Guys . How so? Well, while I can’t speak for Blabey’s work, I feel that Perifel has a great understanding of the basic premise and definitely runs with it…in the right direction. The movie (as a whole) feels like a callback to classic Hollywood iteration of heist movies…. almost like a “rolodex” of some of the heist films like Ocean’s Eleven , which heavily utilizes a select group of people with various traits and talents to pull off heist jobs and make a shift family / team in doing so. This, of course, is the primary setup for when The Bad Guys begins, with the initial first act introducing us (the viewers) to this viewpoint from Mr. Wolf as he has other “bad guy” associates pull off a caper that would set them up for life.

Perifel also plays into this notion by introducing some of the themes that are surrounded by the coin phrase “never judge a book by its cover”. This, of course, plays into the feature’s narrative quite a lot, but it’s done with a more tactful approach, thanks to the script handling by Etan Cohen as well as Yoni Brenner and Hillary Winston. Naturally, the themes of exploring stereotypes and perception are well-founded in the narrative structure of the movie, which definitely made me think of the main theme of Disney’s Zootopia , but rather than making a “carbon copy”, the script for The Bad Guys takes that prose of thematic messaging and makes it’s own and never pulls an “overkill” button when trying to get the point across. The script shapers as well as Perifel’s direction for the film keeps The Bad Guys from falling prey to heavy-handedness of drama and strikes a proper medium of cartoon fun and excitement with moments of reflections and understanding.

Looking beyond those points of narrative writing and thematic messages, Perifel makes The Bad Guys have an all-around great cartoon experience that has all the required and necessary moments to make it accessible for all ages. Even better, the film’s targeted age range will be able to understand (and digest) some of the more meaningful moments by getting its point across in a very straightforward and simplistic way. That’s not to say that The Bad Guys is too “kid-ish” for older viewers to enjoy as Perifel sets the tone for the film right the opening minute of the feature by letting its talented voice cast (more on that below) play to their strengths as well as having a plenty of action sequences and comedy. Oh, yes…the comedy is another big plus for the film, which utilizes a lot of verbal jokes as well as physical comedy gags that are actually pretty good and hit more of their intended levity target rather than missing it. Perifel keeps the feature light on its toes by offering a very breezy animated film that has a greater understanding of balances of action and comedy more so than other cartoon flicks nowadays. There are a few bumps here and there that I notice, but as a first attempt in doing a project like this…. I believe that Perifel gives more right than he does get wrong. Overall, I’m quite impressed with what Perifel was able to accomplish with his first full-length animated film, making The Bad Guys have such energetic and wonderfully tactful narrative that boasts plenty of laugh-out loud moments and a terrific animated endeavor for lighthearted entertainment.

In the presentation category, The Bad Guys looks quite amazing and definitely has a unique swagger that makes it stand out from its other animated feature film competition. Rather using the standard / straight approach style of computer generated rendering for this animated project, Perifel and his team make the film have a visual aesthetic and character design with an interesting twist of soft, art-like styles without being entirely two-dimensional…. something that (in my opinion) kind of reminded me of Netflix’s animated movie Klaus . Additionally, the art style that the animated endeavor produce takes a few cues and nuances from Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , with a large emphasis on the comic book-like visual flair through its rendering and movements of characters / objects. Like Into Spider-Verse, it can be a bit jarring and getting use to it, but it definitely is a huge positive in my opinion, with the animation style of its presentation feeling refreshingly creative and has a keen sense of colorful palette that speaks for itself. Thus, the feature’s “behind the scenes” team, including Devan Key and Floriane Marchix (art direction), Luc Desmarchelier (production designs), Courtney Hoffman (costume designs), and all the movie’s CGI visual artists, should be commended for their efforts in making The Bad Guys have a wonderful and fantastic animation presentation that can (quite literally) trump any animated feature film that has been produced of late…. for its sheer brilliance of style and design. Lastly, the movie’s score, which was composed by Daniel Pemberton, is a great musical composition that has all the usual fanfare one would expect from animated children’s film, but also has the classic usage of the somewhat jazz-infused heist flick, which compliments the thieving heist format that the movie has to offer. All in all, it’s a great piece from Pemberton.

There are a few parts of The Bad Guys that I felt that could’ve been ironed out a little bit better, which caused the feature to have its fair share of criticisms. Perhaps the most apparent one that’s the easiest one to spot is in the overall predictable nature of the movie’s story and how everything plays out throughout the course of its runtime. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy watching the movie and I loved it for what it is…. a kid’s movie. That being said, I felt that the story for the film was way too simplistic. Yes, as I mentioned above, the movie is quite easy to digest and can be accessible to the younger juice box in way that they can follow along, with everything drawn out in a crystal clear way. This, of course, means that most (if not all) of the film has a real predictable nature from start to finish, with a formulaic plot that plays out like one would expect. The morals are translucent, and the roles are clear to what needs to happen and what will happen, despite the movie trying to lather its narrative in a few moments of surprises and twists. Thus, The Bad Guys is pretty formulaic to the touch and could’ve utilized a few more creative and innovate ways to bolster its narrative shortcomings.

In hindsight, I also believe that the movie could’ve utilized a bit more finesse within the heist / crime attempts. Of course, the film heavily emphasizes the various character traits and usage of the actual “bad guys” characters to make their job cohesive and part of the team aspect of pulling off a job together. That being said, the effect is only use in a few sparse areas and I, for one, would’ve liked to see more of this…. pulling off more elaborate heist that what was showing. Even the film’s ending, which pulls all the stops and punches in its showcases, runs the gambit of being a bit too long and tedious for its own good and could’ve benefited with a bit more restructuring of the feature’s themes and characters. In addition (and I’ll mention more on this below), I felt that the movie could’ve done a better job in fully fleshing out some of the main characters of the feature a bit more, especially some of the other “bad guys” characters. It’s not a complete deal-breaker as I felt like this was going to be a problem with the movie from first five minutes, but it would seem that a lot of emphasis is placed on Mr. Wolf and not so much on his other companions, which are there throughout the movie, but it becomes crystal clear where the script is going and who it favors the most.

What definitely helps overlook these points of criticism is the voice talents that The Bad Guys , which are top-notch and full of charismatic energy to bring these animated characters to life. Leading the charge in the film’s endeavor is actor Sam Rockwell, who plays the main protagonist of the movie of Mr. Wolf. Rockwell, who is known for his roles in Iron Man 2 , Moon , and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has always been a gifted actor, spanning a good career that’s a mixture of mainstream releases, indie projects, and award-winning. While not a complete stranger to doing voiceover, Rockwell involvement in the movie is spot-on and makes for a great and believable performance in playing Wolf, with the actor’s laidback and easy-going attitude / bravado seeping into the character, who’s supposed to be sly and easy-going. As mentioned, the story arc for his character is quite well-represented in the movie (easy to follow and to digest), with Rockwell up to chance to give the classic “big, bad wolf” a run for his money and makes the character have a compelling arc. Thus, it goes without saying that Rockwell is almost the perfect match for voicing the character of Mr. Wolf in the film and makes for standout performance in the animated endeavor.

Likewise, actress Zazie Beetz is terrific as the character of Diane Foxington, the newly appointed governor of the city. Known for her roles in Deadpool 2 , The Joker , and Atlanta , Beetz, while not entirely a mainstream talent, has certainly made a name for herself over the past few years; slowly amassing a career catalogue that hones-in on her craft. Thus, her involvement in The Bad Guys is indeed a welcomed one, with Beetz having a lot of playful lines throughout the movie, which are great and makes Foxington an likeable character right from the get-go. Plus, Beetz is a fantastic foil for Rockwell’s easy-going voice, which makes the interactions between Diane and Wolf all the more worthwhile. To be quite honest, I was actually surprised by Beetz’s voice as Governor Foxington, which sounded a bit like actress Maya Rudolph, who I believe the voiced the character when I watch the film. That being said, Beetz certainly is great in the role, and I welcomed sight she brings with her character of Diane into the mix of the whole “bad guys” gang.

The other Bad Guys characters, including actor Marc Maron ( Maron and GLOW ) as the cynical Mr. Snake, actress Awkwafina ( The Farewell and Raya and the Last Dragon ) as the sharp-tongue Ms. Tarantula, actor Craig Robinson ( This is the End and Pineapple Express ) as the childish Mr. Shark, and actor Anthony Ramos ( A Star is Born and In the Heights ) as the short-fused Mr. Piranha, play more the secondary main characters in the movie, yet still shine through with their exuberant / larger-than-life voices. Each one is given their own unique heist skill set and distinct personalities that perfectly match the voice performer behind them, which are equally fun and amusing to watch whenever they are on-screen. That being said, what kind of lessened that impact is that the characters, especially during the middle portion of the film, gets pushed aside as Wolf’s personal narrative story arc takes center stage. As I mentioned above, it wasn’t too much of a problem for me, but I would’ve liked to see more of these characters have their own personal little story arcs a bit more or (at the very least) have a bit more characteristic development rather than the one personality trait. Still, for better or worse, these particular characters in the film are hilarious and their voice talents are solid across the board.

Additionally, actor Richard Ayoade ( The IT Crowd and The Watch ) is terrific as the voice for the pompous and good-natured Professor Rupert Marmalade IV, while the voice talents of actress Alex Borstein ( Family Guy and The Marvelous Ms. Maisel ) as the hot-headed chief of police Misty Luggins and actress Lilly Singh ( Ice Age: Collision Course and The Tube’s Hautest ) provided more minor supporting characters in the film, which are great in their limited, yet colorful screen time.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s good to be bad….is the sentiment feeling tagged in a movie where the commonplace bad guys get themselves mixed up in a situation where they must learn to be good guys to save their skins in the film appropriately titled The Bad Guys . Director Pierre Perifel’s first directorial feature-length debut film is surefire homerun win from DreamWorks Animation Studios; producing a wonderfully enjoyable animated heist capper flick that has wit, zip, and slick styles and swaggers throughout its runtime. While the movie has a few snags of predictable and formulaic natures within its narrative builds (as well as a few characters moments), the film raise to challenge and overcomes those points and presenting a creative cartoon feature thanks to Perifel’s direction, it’s play on the heist genre, the comedy, the animation style, the score, and the entire voice cast. Personally, I liked this movie. It was definitely something that I wasn’t expecting (as I mentioned that I had low expectations for this film) and I had a great time watching. It was fun twist on the classic “bad guy” stereotype and, although some elements were a bit predictable, the animation style was unique and the voice talents involved were solid across the board. All in all, an entertaining and hilarious animated endeavor from DreamWorks. Thus, my recommendation for this film is a very favorable “highly recommended” as the movie can be enjoyed all everyone of all ages and perfect choice for a family friendly movie night. Given the film’s ending is left open-ended, the general positive reviews that the movie has received, and how that Blabey has written an entire novel series surrounding these particular characters, it would seem like a Bad Guys 2 might be on the horizon in the near future and I, for one, would love to see sequel to this movie. Even if one doesn’t materialize, DreamWorks’s The Bad Guys is a cheeky, fun, and widely entertaining animated film that delivers on its premise and rises above the standard fanfare of animated endeavors by producing something uniquely creative and amusing within a heist format as well as its “never judge a book by its cover” theme.

4.3 Out of 5 (Highly Recommended)

Released on: april 22nd, 2022, reviewed on: june 26th, 2022.

The Bad Guys is 100 minutes long and is rated PG for action and rude humor

The Bad Guys

To avoid prison, a gang of notorious animal criminals pretends to seek being rehabilitated, only for their leader to realize that he genuinely wants to change his ways. To avoid prison, a gang of notorious animal criminals pretends to seek being rehabilitated, only for their leader to realize that he genuinely wants to change his ways. To avoid prison, a gang of notorious animal criminals pretends to seek being rehabilitated, only for their leader to realize that he genuinely wants to change his ways.

Pierre Perifel
Aaron Blabey
Sam Rockwell
345 User reviews
139 Critic reviews
64 Metascore
2 wins & 30 nominations

Professor Marmalade

Diane Foxington aka The Crimson Paw

Police Chief Misty Luggins

Tiffany Fluffit

Museum Announcer

Delivery Driver
Prison Guard 1

Prison Guard 2

Museum Guest 2
Prison Guard 3
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

Trivia The beginning of this film mirrors the beginning of Pulp Fiction (1994) where two characters are sitting opposite one another in a diner having what seems to be a rather idle conversation, before revealing that both characters are actually on the verge of launching into a robbery.
Goofs Diane Foxington wears a piercing in her left eyebrow. Later in the movie she talks about her past, when she tried to steal the dolphin statue; when she was holding it, her body was mirrored in the security glass. In the close shot of her mirrored face, the piercing is on the right eyebrow instead of the left one.

Mr. Wolf : Do I wish people didn't see us as monsters? Sure, I do. But these are the cards we've been dealt, so we might as well play 'em.

Crazy credits The DreamWorks logo has Mr Wolf climb to the moon with his grapple gun and take the fisher boy's place.
Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Magical Trailer Reactions (2019)
Soundtracks Fire Written by Eric Burton , Adrian Quesada Performed by Black Pumas Courtesy of ATO Records

User reviews 345

May 4, 2022
How long is The Bad Guys? Powered by Alexa
April 22, 2022 (United States)
United States
United Kingdom
Los tipos malos
DreamWorks Animation
Universal Pictures
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$70,000,000 (estimated)
$97,459,240
$23,950,245
Apr 24, 2022
$250,387,888

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 40 minutes
Dolby Atmos

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‘The Bad Guys’ Review: Criminals Go Straight — In a Roundabout Way — in a Fun, Frenetic Kids’ Caper

Jazzily designed and scored, Pierre Perifel's cartoon romp may be a trifle, but it's still DreamWorks Animation's most appealing offering in several years.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

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It’s a problem that has plagued countless kids’ movies — and more than a few grownup ones — over the course of film history: The villain is conceived and performed with such lip-smacking relish that the nominal hero seems a simpering drag to be around by comparison. Conscious of that perennial imbalance, “ The Bad Guys ” takes a simple solution and multiplies it, making a sympathetic protagonist of not just one supposedly dastardly antagonist, but several. Taking five anthropomorphised animals generally portrayed as violent terrors in the cartoon world — led by a big bad wolf, no less — and centering them as a chummy, lovable criminal collective, this bouncy debut feature from French animator Pierre Perifel gets a lot of value out of that neat high concept. As it steers them to the right side of the law, however, it still can’t convince us that good guys have more fun.

If there’s a downside to this strategy, it’s that an ensemble of villains, while fun to hang out with, isn’t all that easy to care about — cheery and diverting as “The Bad Guys” is, it has all the emotional weight of a few crisp, stolen Benjamins. But if it’s no classic in the making, Perifel’s jaunty escapade is still the most likable new offering in some time from the DreamWorks Animation stable, sure to strike gold with families who have exhausted the repeat viewing possibilities of “Sing 2” when it opens Stateside on April 22. (It’s already rolling out internationally.) Franchise potential, meanwhile, is obvious: The film is adapted from a graphic novel series, by Australian author Aaron Blabey, that has already run to 15 issues.

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Though Blabey’s witty, sketchy illustration style has been given a sleeker makeover in its digitally animated transfer to the big screen, “The Bad Guys” nonetheless benefits from a spikier, more overtly cartoonish aesthetic than many of its more smoothly contoured DreamWorks brethren. Lively character design does as much work as the writing in warming us to a core crew of critters who — dashing silver-pelted ringleader Mr. Wolf aside — get somewhat short shrift in a busy, breakneck screenplay by Etan Cohen (returning to animation 14 years after “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”).

The key players are mostly introduced over the course of a frantic introductory car chase, as Wolf (slickly voiced by Sam Rockwell , though repeatedly likened to George Clooney) and his accomplices make a clean getaway from a successful Los Angeles bank heist. Together with cranky safe-cracker Snake (Marc Maron), snarky tech whiz Tarantula (Awkwafina), goofy, disguise-inclined Shark (Craig Robinson) and hot-headed Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Wolf has pulled off enough such robberies to make him the number-one target of canny fox governor Diane (Zazie Beetz) and eternally foiled human police chief Luggins (Alex Borstein).

The thieves’ luck finally runs out, however, during a plot to steal a prize trinket at a swanky charity gala. Caught red-handed, they face jail time until wealthy guinea-pig philanthropist Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade) proposes a more experimental course of reform: Under his tutelage, the bad guys must learn to use their sly skills for good. And that’s merely the opening gambit of a happily chaotic, highly involved narrative that proceeds to race through assorted twists both predictable — to anyone familiar with the general implications of posh English accents in children’s adventures, at least — and pleasingly left-field.

Very small fry might not follow each and every one of the story’s various turns and reversals, though it hardly matters. On a scene-to-scene basis, there’s so much going on — further car chases, adorable kitten rescue missions, a zombie apocalypse of fluorescent-eyed Guinea Pigs of the Damned — that it’s easy enough to enjoy the small picture, separate from the big one. Cohen’s writing isn’t quite as nifty or quippy as it could be (“Let’s make like a wolf and get the pack out of here,” a character says, in a limp attempt to engage accompanying adult viewers), but the sight gags are sharper, while a running gag on the debilitating effects of piranha flatulence (who knew?) should slay every time with the little ones.

For anyone attentive to such details, meanwhile, the chief incidental pleasures of “The Bad Guys” are craft-based, from its disciplined, suitably Californian palette of burnt oranges and canine tans, to the brassy exuberance of Daniel Pemberton’s working-overtime score, full of sonic callbacks to ’70s heist-movie funk. There’s even a killer original musical number, performed with full-throated swagger by “In the Heights” star Ramos, in which the bad guys pledge, at least for the moment, that they’re “gonna be good tonight.” For the sake of any future outings with these morally flexible furballs, one hopes such promises are merely temporary.

Reviewed at Hackney Picturehouse, London, March 27, 2022. Running time: 100 MIN.

Production: (Animated) A Universal Pictures presentation of a DreamWorks Animation production. Producers: Rebecca Huntley, Damon Ross. Executive producers: Aaron Blabey, Etan Cohen, Patrick Hughes.
Crew: Director: Pierre Perifel. Screenplay: Etan Cohen, based on the graphic novel series by Aaron Blabey. Editor: John Venzon. Music: Daniel Pemberton.
With: Sam Rockwell, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Alex Borstein, Lilly Singh.

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The Bad Guys review: A clever crime comedy for the whole family

The Bad Guys is, in many ways, a fairly typical animated family movie. It’s got a group of charming and snarky talking animals, a bright animation style, fast-paced and physics-defying action sequences, and more than a few jokes that will only work on audience members between the ages of 2 and 10. But The Bad Guys is also a crime comedy in the same vein as Ocean’s Eleven , a film that definitely doesn’t qualify as “family-friendly,” if only because it “condones” criminal behavior.

Round up the usual suspects

The flaws in the plan, the not-so-perfect con.

By combining its traditional, kid-friendly elements with a plot that was clearly inspired by several much edgier heist films , The Bad Guys ends up being an unexpected combination of two opposing genres. What’s even more surprising is the fact that The Bad Guys mostly succeeds at creating the same kind of magic found in so many of the crime comedies that its makers obviously admire.

That is to say that, while The Bad Guys is still a film that feels the need to deliver an easily digestible moral lesson, it’s also the kind of movie that’s willing to start with a scene that pays clear homage to the prologue of Pulp Fiction .

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Directed by Pierre Perifel and written by Etan Cohen, The Bad Guys focuses on a group of anthropomorphic animals who have come to accept their place as the go-to villains of most stories. There’s Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), all of whom bring their unique skills and personalities to their eccentric crime outfit.

The film opens with Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake sitting in a quiet city diner, and it follows them as they argue for several minutes about their food preferences before making their way across the street to rob a nearby bank. In the car chase that follows, Mr. Wolf breaks the fourth wall to introduce viewers to himself and the rest of his team members. It’s a fun and well-constructed opening sequence, one that combines elements from films like Out of Sight , Pulp Fiction , and Fast & Furious before reaching its inevitable, intentionally ludicrous conclusion.

From there, The Bad Guys follows its central crew as they attempt to steal an award from a gala event that is meant to celebrate a wealthy philanthropist named Rupert Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade). However, things go wrong when a moment of heroism from Mr. Wolf results in him and his team being forced to undergo a series of character rehabilitation exercises, all of which are overseen by Marmalade.

It’s when the film’s titular crew are under Marmalade’s watchful eye that The Bad Guys comes dangerously close to falling apart. The tests that the characters are put through in the film all come across as uninspired, and Cohen’s script never takes the concept as far as it could. Fortunately, the film doesn’t spend too much of its runtime on The Bad Guys ’ stay with Marmalade, and quickly brings it to an end with an effective, if obvious, twist.

Once The Bad Guys hits the plot beat in question (which won’t be spoiled in this review), it more or less kicks into high gear as it moves into its third act. The film begins to pick up many of the seeds that were planted in its opening section and unfurls a string of stylish and fun action sequences that are punctuated by satisfying and genuinely clever plot twists. Taking a page out of every great heist movie, the film’s closing section is filled with constant shifts in power and tongue-in-cheek cons, all of which help to bring The Bad Guys ’ various plotlines and character arcs to their inevitable conclusions.

For his part, Perifel, who makes his directorial debut with The Bad Guys , fills the film with gorgeous animated visuals and slick, well-edited action sequences. The film visually embraces its absurd premise, opting for a cartoonish and goofy style that makes it look decidedly different from many of the high-budget CG-animated movies that are being released nowadays. Perifel also gives the film a warm color palette that emphasizes its golds, reds, and blacks, which just makes it all the more pleasing to look at.

Predictably, the film’s family-friendly tone prevents its ending from existing within the same kind of moral neutral ground that most great crime movies inhabit. In its concluding moments, The Bad Guys goes out of its way to wrap up its storylines as neatly as possible, which is a decision that not only stretches the film’s internal logic at points but also robs many of its characters of their charming complexity.

But the twists that The Bad Guys uses to bring its characters to their respective endpoints are all fun and clever in their own right, which makes watching the film’s final 10 minutes unfold a satisfying experience despite the forced neatness of its conclusion. In other words, while the movie certainly doesn’t pull off the perfect heist, it does succeed at doing most of what it sets out to do.

The Bad Guys hits theaters in the United States on Friday, April 22.

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Still, the song shows up more than once in this bromantic comedy of mutual desperation. And by the time Kevin is belting it alone in the car, channeling all his pain through that iconic chorus (“Nothing’s all right! Nothing is fine!”), it’s moved from punch line to unofficial theme. In this on-the-nose needle drop, one can hear the whole nervy balancing act of the film, the way it teeters between absurdity and sincerity, irreverence and straight-faced commiseration.

Most of DreamWorks Animations' leading characters tend to be either well-meaning and gregarious like the Croods or lovable and flawed protagonists like Shrek. But this week, DreamWorks is shaking up the formula by unleashing The Bad Guys. This anthropomorphic band of miscreants is unapologetically villainous, and they make crime look easy.

In the first six minutes of The Bad Guys, viewers are introduced to each member of the crew. Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell) is the leader, and he claims to be the Big Bad Wolf himself. Mr. Snake (Marc Maron) is his right-hand man, so to speak, while Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina) is a talented hacker. We're somewhat incredulous about the purported disguise skills of Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), but we wouldn't bet against Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) in a fight. After all, he bites!

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a man holds a cross in front of a cloudy sky and the domed Capitol building in Washington

‘Demolishing democracy’: how much danger does Christian nationalism pose?

Documentary Bad Faith looks at the history of a group trying to affect and corrupt politics under the guise of religion

B ad Faith, a new documentary on the rise of Christian nationalism in the United States, opens with an obvious, ominous scene – the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021 – though trained on details drowned out by the deluge of horror and easily recognizable images of chaos. That Paula White, Donald Trump’s faith adviser, led the Save America rally in a prayer to overturn the results for “a free and fair election”. That mixed among Trump flags, American flags and militia symbols were numerous banners with Christian crosses; on the steps of the Capitol, a “JESUS SAVES” sign blares mere feet from “Lock Them UP!”

The movement to overturn the 2020 election for Donald Trump was, as the documentary underscores, inextricable from a certain strain of belief in America as a fundamentally Christian nation, separation of church and state be damned. In fact, as Bad Faith argues, Christian nationalism – a political movement to shape the United States according a certain interpretation of evangelical Christianity , by vote or, more recently, by coercion – was the “galvanizing force” behind the attempted hijacking of the democratic process three years ago.

Bad Faith traces the origins of the movement as a savvy, disproportionately powerful political force, from churches to Republican political operatives to donors, either from conviction or convenience. “I think a lot of Americans have a very difficult time accepting and understanding the fact that such treason, such anti-democratic activity, could be carried out by people who basically look like Sunday school teachers,” Stephen Ujlaki, the film’s director, told the Guardian. By looking back on the half-century of Christian nationalist belief, organizing and action, the events of January 6 no longer seemed shocking, but the logical endpoint of anti-democratic ideals. “It was unmistakable, once you looked in the right place and you listened to what people were saying, and you understood how to decode what they were saying,” said Ujlaki. “Little would you know that when they talk about recreating the kingdom of God on earth, they weren’t talking about something spiritual. They were talking about demolishing democracy so that God, ie themselves, could rule. And for that reason, I call it a conspiracy carried out in broad daylight.”

Though Christian nationalists are quick to invoke the founding fathers, whom they claim were directed by a Christian God, the conspiracy has its modern origins in the 1970s, when the Republican political organizer Paul Weyrich began uniting evangelical parishioners and televangelist preachers like Jerry Falwell with Republican party politics opposing desegregation, via a political action group called the Moral Majority. It’s not that evangelical Christians weren’t political – as the film, narrated by Peter Coyote, points out, the idea of America as a white Christian nation undergirded the Ku Klux Klan, which at its peak in 1924 claimed 8 million members, the vast majority of whom were white evangelicals, including 40,000 ministers.

Accordingly, the crucial tie between white evangelicals and the Republican party came not from the 1972 ruling in Roe v Wade, as is often misattributed, but from opposition to a different ruling preventing racially segregated institutions – including schools and churches – from claiming charitable, tax-exempt status. The ruling brought segregated church leaders such as Falwell in alignment with Republican operatives like Weyrich, who cannily realized that emotional arguments against abortion would drive more grassroots support than openly racist talk against desegregation.

Bad Faith highlights Christian nationalism’s “origins in the racism, and the segregation mentality, and you can draw a straight line from that to gerrymandering and voter suppression,” said Anne Nelson, a film participant and author of Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right. Christian nationalist supporters, she added, were “very skillful at ... framing and branding and messaging, that makes something like voter suppression look like electoral integrity. And they do this time after time, on every front”.

The film juxtaposes the decades-long roots of the movement with its evolving principles: that America was founded as a Christian nation, for and by Christians; that maintaining such a state is a divinely sanctioned, righteous fight; that anti-democratic or violent tactics should be employed in the name of God. And in recent years, that Donald Trump – a thrice-married, profligate cheater with too many character scandals to name – is, if not a true “Christian”, a divinely sanctioned “King Cyrus” figure sent to disrupt the secular order. “The divisiveness and the distrust of institutions that we’re seeing today was part of a plan,” said Ujlaki. “It was a result of an actual plan, successfully executed to get to this point. And once the institutions are weakened and people have lost faith in elections, there’s room for the strongman to come in.”

In addition to political experts contextualizing the growth and funding of Christian nationalism, Ujlaki also enlisted several prominent, faithful Christians to dispute another of the movement’s prominent myths: that it’s a true distillation of Christian teachings. “It is absolutely not Christian. It is anti-Christian,” said Ujlaki. He quoted the theologian Russell Moore, who calls the movement “heresy” in the film, as well as the Rev William Barber II, whose faith leads him to advocate for wealth redistribution, racial equality and social justice: “They may have their Trump, but they don’t have their Jesus.”

“They don’t care about the actual Jesus,” said Ujlaki. That’s underscored by the money trail, followed by Nelson and others, which leads to several non-evangelical donors – the Koch brothers and more – who nevertheless benefit from the movement’s weakening of institutions and drive to the far right, as with the Tea Party movement in 2010. “They’re in bed together, based on economic principles, not theology,” said Nelson.

And yet theology continues to drive an anti-democratic movement, for which January 6 was not a disaster but a starting point. Bad Faith ends with a note about Project 2025, announced in December 2023 by the Heritage Foundation. The 900-page document builds on Weyrich’s Conservative Manifesto and recommends, among other things: placing all independent government agencies, including the FBI and Department of Justice, under direct presidential control; purging government employees considered “disloyal” to the president; and deploying the military against American citizens under the Insurrection Act.

Some of the recommendations sound far-fetched and extreme, but if Bad Faith has one point, it is to take Christian nationalism as a serious threat to democracy. “These people are not stupid,” said Nelson. “They’re incredibly strategic. They’re extremely good at organization, and they have a very, very long attention span. If they set out an objective, they will give it 40 years to play out, they will build organizations, they will go into electoral districts not a month before the election, but two years before the election, organizing voters.”

In Nelson’s view, major media organizations misunderstood this in the run-up to January 6. “They look at these events as independent grassroots eruptions, like the Tea Party,” she said. “And they’re actually fully integrated as a strategy with massive coordinated funding and implementation. If you don’t see that, you miss the story.”

Bad Faith is now available to rent digitally in the US with a UK date to be announced

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COMMENTS

The Bad Guys (Christian Movie Review)
The Bad Guys is just a ton of fun. From start to finish, it is relentlessly fast paced, although never in an obnoxious or hyper-stimulating way. The movie does slow down on occasion to sprinkle in an emotional story beat or a moral lesson, but it rarely lingers long. It has a wholesome lesson to share (more on that below), but its primary ...
The Bad Guys (2022)
There is a prop that looks like a butt, and it is referenced frequently by the characters. One character has bad gas that impacts the story a couple times, but there is very little objectionable material in this film. The positives outweigh the negatives, and I think "The Bad Guys" has a very poignant moment.
THE BAD GUYS
THE BAD GUYS is an excellent adventure filmed in a European animated style. The characters are engaging and likable, especially when they start to experience the power of doing good instead of evil. The movie is quite clever and witty, with several humorous moments. There are some questionable elements, such as cartoon violence, social drinking ...
MOVIE REVIEW: 'The Bad Guys'
This is the movie poster for "The Bad Guys." The Catholic News Service classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. (CNS photo/DreamWorks Pictures) MOVIE REVIEW: 'The Bad Guys' April 27, 2022 By Sister Hosea Rupprecht
The Bad Guys Movie Review
Parents need to know that The Bad Guys is a fun animated comedy heist based on a popular graphic novel series.Delivering a memorable message about the harmful impact of stereotypes, it follows a wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell), shark (Craig Robinson), piranha (Anthony Ramos), snake (), and tarantula who've formed an infamous crime ring.There's cartoon violence -- characters being hit by a car ...
The Bad Guys
View Count 1936. Return. The new movie from Dreamworks Animation, "The Bad Guys" couches a great lesson for kids in a fun-filled, action-packed heist movie: being good and doing good makes one feel good. The film marks the feature directing debut of veteran animator, Pierre Perifel, and he brings the genre alive with a frenetic burst of energy.
The Bad Guys
Check out our written review here: https://thecollision.org/the-bad-guys-christian-movie-review/TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Intro1:16 About the Film6:52 Content to Consi...
Dreamworks The Bad Guys Christian Movie Review
Viewing Recommendations for The Bad Guys Christian Movie Review. While this movie is mild by today's standards, there may be things that bother small children. My age recommendation is ages 7 and up. In fact, I do think younger children may be upset by the snake eating hundreds of guinea pigs or the glowing eyes of the guinea pigs.
The Bad Guys: When the Bad Go Good
The Bad Guys - Pierre Perifel's feature film directorial debut - mixes non-stop action found in all the best heist films with the heart of anthropomorphic hits like Zootopia. It's packed with laugh-out-loud humor, entertaining car chases, inventive schemes, plot twists galore, and a charming, animated style that gives the surefire hit ...
Movie review: 'The Bad Guys'
Movie review: 'The Bad Guys'. The heist genre gets a fresh burst of frenetic energy with the animated comedy "The Bad Guys" (Universal). This high-octane, older-kid-friendly caper is veteran animator Pierre Perifel's feature debut — and the neophyte director nails it. Screenwriter Etan Cohen's script, adapted from a series of ...
The Bad Guys movie review & film summary (2022)
Based on the kids' graphic novel series by Aaron Blabey, "The Bad Guys" follows a group of fun-loving criminals who lean into their rap as the villains of the animal kingdom for thrills and profit. Wolf (voiced by a smooth Rockwell) is their charismatic leader, with unmistakable shades of Danny Ocean. (In case the similarities weren't ...
5 Lessons For Kids And Adults From The New Movie "The Bad Guys"
1. Certain things won't fill you. The Bad Guys tells the story of a band of characters who have completed heists and stockpiled the stolen goods. In their latest heist, they get caught and are arrested. A quote that I jotted down was this: "Money can't fill what you are looking for.".
The Bad Guys review: an animated heist movie that steals from the best
Image: DreamWorks. The Bad Guys ' imitation of grown-up movies isn't always pitch-perfect. The attempts at sly banter between Mr. Wolf and Governor Foxington are just OK — more theoretically ...
The Bad Guys
Jul 25, 2023. Rated: 4/5 • Oct 3, 2022. In the new action comedy from DreamWorks Animation, based on the New York Times best-selling book series, a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws ...
The Bad Guys
Police Chief Misty Luggins accidently slams Snake's tail into a briefcase. Snake gets kicked in the face. His rap sheet explains that he ate all the animals in a man's pet store. Piranha accidently knocks Shark out with a grappling hook. Wolf is hit by a semi-truck.
The Bad Guys
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 16, 2022. Jennifer Heaton Alternative Lens. An adaptation of the children's novels by Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys is a return to form for DreamWorks ...
'The Bad Guys' movie review: Animated villains are all good fun
Hmmm. An unanticipated feel-good sensation manifests itself in a telltale waggle of his wolfy tail. Very embarrassing. And also very funny. Based on a series of children's graphic novels by ...
Sam Rockwell and Awkwafina in 'The Bad Guys': Film Review
Rated PG, 1 hour 40 minutes. The film directed by Pierre Perifel leans heavily into those comparisons, beginning with a diner scene parodying the opener of Pulp Fiction and having the insouciant ...
The Bad Guys (2022) Review
It's good to be bad….is the sentiment feeling tagged in a movie where the commonplace bad guys get themselves mixed up in a situation where they must learn to be good guys to save their skins in the film appropriately titled The Bad Guys.Director Pierre Perifel's first directorial feature-length debut film is surefire homerun win from DreamWorks Animation Studios; producing a wonderfully ...
The Bad Guys (2022)
The Bad Guys: Directed by Pierre Perifel. With Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson. To avoid prison, a gang of notorious animal criminals pretends to seek being rehabilitated, only for their leader to realize that he genuinely wants to change his ways.
'The Bad Guys' Review: Criminals Go Straight
Screenplay: Etan Cohen, based on the graphic novel series by Aaron Blabey. Editor: John Venzon. Music: Daniel Pemberton. With: Sam Rockwell, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson ...
Plugged In Movie Review
Plugged In Movie Review - The Bad Guys Thursday, April 21, 2022. Adam, from Plugged In, reviewed the new film, "The Bad Guys," for us.
The Bad Guys review: A fun, animated crime comedy romp
By Alex Welch April 22, 2022. The Bad Guys is, in many ways, a fairly typical animated family movie. It's got a group of charming and snarky talking animals, a bright animation style, fast-paced ...
'Demolishing democracy': how much danger does Christian nationalism
Documentary Bad Faith looks at the history of a group trying to affect and corrupt politics under the guise of religion Bad Faith, a new documentary on the rise of Christian nationalism in the ...

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