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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;

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 …

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

Videos and photos.

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 : May 8, 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.

Suggest an Update

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the bad guys.

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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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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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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

Movie Review: The Bad Guys

If you’re painted as the villain your whole life, can you do anything but play the role? Read the Plugged In review: https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/bad-guys-2022/ If you've listened to any of our podcasts, please give us your feedback: https://focusonthefamily.com/podcastsurvey/

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In Theaters and Digital

The bad guys - movie review.

Hold onto your seats! Dreamworks Animation goes full speed ahead into its new chapter with The Bad Guys , a high octane animated thriller that steals from the heist films of the ‘60s and leans into the company’s new direction with an energy we’ve not seen from the studio in quite some time.

With the animation house’s first film following its purchase by Universal , the company hits the ground running with a bold, refreshing new artistic direction. Though not quite Pixar in any respect – particularly with regards to emotional oomph, there’s no denying that the film’s fun, playful attitude and eye-popping animation is certain to entertain the entire family.

Originating as a Scholastic graphic novel series from Australian author Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys series looks at hurtful stereotypes and the constant struggle to change society's perception of past performance as a gauge of one’s future. Sure, that’s pretty heavy stuff – especially for a kid’s movie, and if handled incorrectly might step all over the film’s fun atmosphere and breezy pacing, but screenwriter Etan Cohen and director Pierre Perifel never let the message muddy up the fun.

Playing into the film’s themes of misperception, these bad guys are not just animals, but rather animals that everyone is afraid of. There’s the head of the gang, dashing pickpocket Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell ), world-wise safecracker Mr. Snake ( Marc Maron ), master-of-disguise Mr. Shark ( Craig Robinson ), hot-headed Mr. Piranha ( Anthony Ramos ), and smart-aleck computer hacker Ms. Tarantula ( Awkafina ). They figure that since everyone is going to hate them for the bodies they are in, they might as well make the most of it and live up to the hate they receive.

Collectively they make up the infamous gang behind many of the city’s countless heists. But when finally caught by the city’s gung-ho police chief Misty Luggins ( Alex Borstein ), Mr. Wolf forges a deal with law enforcement to save them all from going to prison. In other words, these bad guys will go good.

But nobody has ever failed so hard at trying to be good as these bad guys. Mr. Wolf, et al., are actually working a long con. Under the guidance of Professor Marmalade ( Richard Ayoade ), the gang sets out to fool the world that they’ve been transformed.

Riffing on caper movies and other animated films, The Bad Guys blends technical heist gags, car chase scenes, comedic bits, and buddy road trip elements into the wild and crazy experience. While some of those pieces don’t quite work, there’s always the fast-paced action, funny quips, and goofy animal behavior to bring you around.

Dreamworks has done a masterful job with the animation that makes Blabey ’s characters leap to life right before our eyes. Though not what we’re used to seeing from Pixar , in many ways it might be better. With deeper shadows, a mix of 3-D and 2-D handlings, and a color palette that makes more bold choices than Pixar might, this is something we’ve not seen before. It’s actually quite fresh and absolutely gorgeous.

By no means should The Bad Guys be considered a top-level animated film. Despite its well-intentioned and deftly-handled themes, there are simply too many clumsy sequences and missed opportunities to reach those heights. Not every animated film can be a Shrek or Toy Story . However, as a broad swath of family entertainment, The Bad Guys may very well steal your heart.

MPAA Rating: PG for action and rude humor. Runtime: 100 mins Director : Pierre Perifel Writer: Etan Cohen Cast: Sam Rockwell (voice); Marc Maron (voice); Awkwafina (voice) Genre : Animation | Action | Adventure | Crime Tagline: Good is No Fun at All. Memorable Movie Quote: "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." Theatrical Distributor: Dreamworks Animation Official Site: https://www.dreamworks.com/movies/the-bad-guys Release Date: April 22, 2022 DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: Synopsis : Several reformed yet misunderstood criminal animals attempt to become good, with some disastrous results along the way.

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Movie Review: The Bad Guys

If you’re painted as the villain your whole life, can you do anything but play the role? Read the Plugged In review: https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/bad-guys-2022/ If you've listened to any of our podcasts, please give us your feedback: https://focusonthefamily.com/podcastsurvey/

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• Blog: Movies

Bad Boys Do Surprisingly Good

• January 20, 2020

I don’t envy the life of your average Hollywood studio executive.

Oh, sure, I suppose the mansion in Malibu with a Lamborghini in the drive would be nice. Maybe that part. But when it comes to trying to figure out which movie properties from the past might still have traction? It’s like throwing a dart with a blindfold on. The cinematic road is littered with the smoking remains of rebooted and reimagined franchises that crashed and burned in 2019. (I’m looking at you Terminator: Dark Fate , Charlie’s Angels and Cats .)

Which brings us to this weekend’s results. You might have thought that audiences were tired of Will Smith. After all, his Smith v. Smith actioner Gemini badly underperformed last year. And you might have thought that Robert Downey Jr.’s presence in Dolittle would have made that flick an iron-clad lock for a big opening weekend.

And … you’d be wrong on both counts.

Will Smith’s reunion with Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys for Life vastly exceeded industry experts’ expectations. Over the traditional three-day weekend, this reboot took in an estimated $59.2 million domestically, with another $9 mil or so expected for Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Turns out bad is still good for Smith and Lawrence in a film that had some surprising spiritual elements, as well as a whole lotta content that Plugged In would still slot into various “bad” categories.

As for Robert Downey Jr.’s critically savaged take on a doctor who can talk to animals, well, let’s just say not even Tony Stark had the technical ability to rescue this relaunch. Dolittle made an estimated $22.5 million (with another $7.5 million expected on Monday), a figure that some are saying bested modest expectations while others are labeling a “ dud ” (factoring in a lukewarm international box office) given the film’s reported $175 million production budget. Either way you look at it, it’s probably safe to say that Downey won’t be back to talk to any more animals in his much-mocked Scottish brogue in Dolittle 2 .

Crossing the line at No. 3 this week was Sam Mendes’ critically hailed (and Oscar nominated) World War 1 drama 1917 , with an estimated $27 million over the four-day holiday. At No. 4, Jumanji: The  Next Level managed to conjure another $12.6 million. And Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker rounds out the top five with $10.6 million, putting its domestic cume just shy of $500 million.

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• DVD & Streaming
• Animation , Kids , Musical

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 4, 2016
• Anna Kendrick as Poppy; Justin Timberlake as Branch; Zooey Deschanel as Bridget; Christine Baranski as Chef; Russell Brand as Creek; Christopher Mintz-Plasse as King Gristle; Jeffrey Tambor as King Peppy

Home Release Date

• February 7, 2017
• Walt Dohrn, Mike Mitchell

Distributor

• 20th Century Fox

Movie Review

Trolls are happy creatures who have always lived in a happy tree in a happy forest. They have happy bodies. Happy hair. In fact, that’s probably why their brightly colored mops seem to be exploding out of the top of their heads. I mean, how do you keep that kind of neon joy combed down?

These cute little guys are so blissfully gleeful that they can’t keep themselves from breaking out in song at any given moment. They love to hug, too. They hug each other so much that they have to limit it to once an hour just so they can actually get something else done.

However, always being that euphorically enthused does have its drawbacks. For one thing, it emphasizes to those less-happy sorts that they’re kinda missing out.

Take the goblin-like Bergens, for example.

It’s not hard to see why a troll is glad and giggly while a Bergen is gruff and glum. Troll fashions scream “rainbow color!” Bergan outfits sob “messy diaper.” When trolls warble with joy, Bergens can only muster a moan.

Now, all that wouldn’t have been too terrible except for the fact that one day a big, bulky Bergen discovered that if a Bergen eats a troll, then he’ll be a little happier for a short while, too. So the next thing you know, those giant gloomy guys caged up the troll tree and created a once-a-year holiday called Trollstace : a single day when every Bergen can get a “taste” of happiness.

Ew , right?

Well, it didn’t take long for the trolls, led by their brave King Peppy, to decide they needed to do something to avoid extinction. So they tunneled past the cage walls and found a path to freedom.

Of course, that was some 20 years ago. The trolls have since set up a new home in a wonderful little wooded hollow with lots of fresh air, clean water and … great acoustics. (Hey, they still love to sing, right?) And King Peppy is just about to cede his throne to his daughter, Poppy, probably the happiest, sweetest-voiced and most gifted troll you’ll ever meet. Yep, she can whip up a fabulous felt scrapbook or a humdinger of a group sing in no time at all.

Little do Poppy and her hollow full of happy huggers know, however, that the Bergens haven’t given up on their quest for happiness. They haven’t made peace with their melancholy misery. And they know there’s only one way a Bergen will ever dispel that soul-sucking sorrow: by somehow getting their hands (and teeth) on those perpetually happy-go-lucky trolls.

Positive Elements

The trolls are a kind and loving group. And those traits generally make things better for them when the chips are down. One thing Poppy is sure of—a conviction she shares with some Bergens and a rather bad-tempered troll named Branch—is that “happiness is inside of us all … you just need someone to help you find it.”

[ Spoiler Warning ] Accordingly, she takes steps to help a girl Bergen named Bridget come to grips with that truth. In fact, because of the never-give-up actions of Poppy and a few other trolls, literally the whole population of Bergentown comes to understand that happiness comes from the heart, not from eating small, happy creatures.

Poppy puts her life on the line to rescue her friends. And after some grumbling, Branch makes sacrifices, too. During a crisis, King Peppy runs back to help some straggling trolls, yelling, “No troll left behind!” Branch tells Poppy, “Bad things happen, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” But he learns that there are caring things you can do to help other people during those bad times.

Spiritual Elements

A troll named Creek displays a very “get in touch with your inner nature” kind of attitude around the other trolls. He uses the Hindu phrase, “Namaste.”

Sexual Content

The Bergen leader, King Gristle, and a palace chambermaid named Bridget share a nerdy love story of sorts and ultimately kiss during a dream sequence. A couple of androgynous Trolls are covered by nothing but sparkles. During a rescue of several trolls, King Peppy loses bits of his clothing until he steps out of a tunnel wearing nothing. We see his bare backside and witness a crowd’s surprised reaction.

Violent Content

A number of trolls get grabbed and gobbled up in scenes that are more suggestive than messy or graphic, but which could be mildly disturbing to sensitive little viewers nonetheless.

A Bergen and a troll fall into the open mouth of a giant plant-like creature. Some cartoony forest monsters eat each other. In the midst of a scrapbook story, a felt character has its head bloodlessly removed and swallowed. Animals and spiders crawl threateningly toward a defenseless Poppy before being knocked away. Branch tells a story of his grandmother being snatched up by a monster (and it’s implied that she’s eaten).

A troll is choked by two other trolls. A Bergen gets set on fire. A Bergen boy rips out handfuls of an elder’s chest hair. One Bergen is so hopeless that he buries himself alive in the hope of dying sooner. A troll funeral gets disrupted, ejecting a coffin’s occupant (who’s wearing what appears to be a clown outfit with Xs over its eyes).

Crude or Profane Language

We hear several exclamations of “oh my god.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Trolls themselves constitute something of a “drug” since Bergens believe that eating one will provide a short-lived injection of happiness.

Other Negative Elements

One character repeatedly shoots glitter from his backside, while another frightened fellow ejects several cupcakes in the same manner. A troll has the glitter on his backside ground off by a spinning wheel. A troll sells out his friends in an effort to save his own skin.

Back in the 1960’s, little plastic Troll dolls with multihued shocks of fuzzy hair were all the rage. And those so-ugly-they-were-cute collectables have resurfaced to capture kids’ attention several times in the decades since. In more recent decades, they’ve shown up in miniature form, perched on the eraser end of some little tyke’s pencil. So, it’s not a major surprise that Hollywood decided it was time to give these wee creatures a Smurfy makeover and their own 3-D movie.

The film-version Trolls aren’t so bug-eyed, round-tummied and muggly as the ones we might remember. They sing, they dance, they hug. A lot. And they set out to turn even the most grumpy grumblers onto their form of get-up-and-party revelry through a combination of brightly colored felt, sticky sweet temperaments, sparkles and bouncy karaoke tunes from the ’80s.

And you know what? It all adds up pretty well.

Oh, there are indeed quite a few toiletly, expel-a-cupcake giggles that parents will have to bear with here. And more characters are gobbled up by scrapbook-like versions of goofy monsters than you might expect.

But the music is peppy, the heroes are likeable, the bad guys get their comeuppance, and nothing is really too scary. In fact, this let’s-all-get-along tale is pretty much exactly the kind of felt-and-glitter silliness you might expect from a movie about something you used to keep in your pencil box.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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