The Bad Guys (U)

Master pickpocket Mr Wolf and his crew Mr Piranha, Mr Snake, Ms Tarantula and Mr Shark live in a world where man and nature co-exist in uneasy harmony. Guinea pig philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV encourages Mr Wolf to howl in the face of evolution and perform good deeds rather than criminal acts. When the larcenous lupine experiences joy from helping others, he begins to seriously question the mistakes of his past.

LondonNet Film Review

The Bad Guys (U) Film Review from LondonNet

Leopards can change their spots – or at least apply make-up to cleverly conceal them – in a madcap computer-animated creature feature directed by Pierre Perifel. Based on a series of graphic novels for younger readers penned by Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys unfolds in a heavily stylised world where humans and anthropomorphic critters co-exist in uneasy harmony. The wise-cracking anti-heroes of this concrete jungle are five bank robbers led by a debonair wolf, whose hare-brained heists nod reverentially to Ocean’s Eleven to the point that when the lupine leader sweet-talks one clued-up target, she pithily counters, “don’t Clooney me!…”

Scriptwriter Etan Cohen atones for the deplorable 2018 comedy Holmes & Watson with snappy dialogue, colourful characterisation and brisk pacing, including at least one rug-pulling plot twist and the loopy liberation of thousands of helpless guinea pigs from an animal laboratory. A running gag involving noxious flatulence whiffs well before the 100 minutes are up but gags hit more often than they miss and a distinctive aesthetic melds traditional 2D hand-drawn artistry with digital wizardry to eye-popping effect

Master pickpocket Mr Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell) fully embraces his role as a villain, following in the paw prints of lupine ancestors from Grimms’ Fairy Tales. He leads a larcenous crew comprising serpentine safecracking machine and best friend Mr Snake (Marc Maron), hacker and in-house tech wizard Ms Tarantula (Awkwafina), apex predator of a thousand disguises Mr Shark (Craig Robinson) and sociopathic muscle man Mr Piranha (Anthony Ramos).

The light-fingered quintet live cheek by jowl with terrified humans in a city where they repeatedly torment fiery-tempered police chief Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein) by pulling off ingenious bank robberies. “We may be bad but we’re so good at it!” grins Mr Wolf during a getaway car chase after one daredevil heist.

When the crew botches the theft of The Golden Dolphin statuette from the Museum of Fine Arts under the snout of Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), guinea pig philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade) offers Mr Wolf and his associates an alternative to time behind bars. They can take part in a social experiment to perform good deeds rather than criminal acts. Marmalade’s proposal defies Mr Wolf’s cherished mantra – “Go bad or go home” – but the robbers are willing to test the guinea pig’s theory and avoid a prolonged spell in Super Ultra Crazy Max (SUCM) confinement.

The Bad Guys melds Zootropolis and Despicable Me for a simplistic yet crowd-pleasing behavioural study laden with slapstick and heart-warming lessons about putting the needs of others before your own. Energetic vocal performances match the high tempo of Cohen’s writing and director Perifel pilfers our attention with logic-defying action set pieces.

– Sarah Lee