Nonstop action and entertainment wasn’t enough to win over my six-year-old, apparently, with The Bad Guys 2 delivering another amusing-but-not-quite-fiendish romp full of crime and talking animals—all of which my kid described as “sort of boring.”
In fairness, she had stayed up way too late the night before watching The Goonies. Had she been running on a full tank I imagine her enthusiasm would have been higher, but she does have a point—despite fun characters, a clever screenplay, and relentless action, The Bad Guys 2, much like its predecessor, doesn’t quite get away with the crime.
But I can’t quite put my paw on it. The Bad Guys 2 has a lot going for it.
Behind the quality animation—the movie looks great—there’s a sharp screenplay that throws plenty of zingers for the adults, at least early on. It’s funny and dynamic, the story propelled forward by enigmatic characters and fast-paced action.
The first act is a riot as we are reintroduced to the main cast of former thieves and their plight trying to make it above board. Snake has a girlfriend who is a great kisser (he puts her hold head in house mouth), but Wolf and the rest of the crew can’t secure jobs given their past “professions.” It’s in these early scenes that The Bad Guys 2 thrives, because the movie is gnawing for laughs.
As the story progresses, the humor gets second thrift to the action—it’s not that the movie becomes dead serious, but it becomes more serious. And as well staged as the action is, The Bad Guys 2 works better as a comedy; when it isn’t trying to be a comedy, it starts to feel a lot more like other movies we’ve all seen before. Everything that happens, culminating in what otherwise would be described as a thrilling Zero G climax, becomes a tad monotonous.
Altogether, The Bad Guys 2 has enough charm and smarts to be worth it. God only knows there are far worse kids movies out there. But this film is one big heist from being a better movie.
Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.
