“The Bad Guys” are back.
The sequel to DreamWorks Animation’s 2022 hit, based on the popular book series by Aaron Blabey, arrives on Aug. 1. And ahead of the movie’s release, DreamWorks showed off around 30 minutes of footage at the Annecy International Animation Festival, which gave a real sense of where the franchise is headed.
Director Pierre Perifel, co-director JP Sans (who served as head of story on the first movie) and producer Damon Ross were on hand to introduce the footage. They said that they had started working on ideas for the sequel a few weeks before finishing the first movie. They had been haunted by an audience member in a test screening for the original film, who said he didn’t know “how they’re going to top this one.” That comment stuck in the back of the filmmakers’ minds as they were creating the new movie – they were intent to push the storytelling and the illustrative look of the first movie. If the first film was inspired by “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Reservoir Dogs,” then the sequel is more indebted to giant action extravaganzas like the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.
Once again, the core Bad Guys have returned – Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), who are now attempting to live the good life, along with Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), who was once a thief known as the Crimson Paw. New characters this time around include a trio of Bad Girls – Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), a snow leopard; Doom (Natasha Lyonne), a raven; and Pigtail (Maria Bakalova), a wild boar. These new characters lure the Bad Guys back into a life of crime. You know, the usual “one last job” routine.
The first scene they showed was the movie’s opening, a flashback to five years ago that saw the team pulling off a daring heist in Cairo. (This was also Tarantula’s first job with the team, which is fun.) It ends in a car chase that is really spectacular; there is this one crazy fish-eye shot of the car zooming past the camera which really encapsulates the commitment to pushing the visuals of the first movie to an insane degree, but while maintaining everything that made that film so charming and fun. There’s also a great new Busta Rhymes song that goes along with the chase, with the rapper going a mile-a-minute, which perfectly matches what is happening on screen. The whole heist is to liberate a sports car, which Wolf absolutely loves. At the end of the scene, he proclaims that he is “never driving anything else again.” That’s when we cut to five years later, as he is attempting to embrace the good life, and driving a really crummy car.
Another scene has the Bad Guys in their loft watching a news report of some thefts – could they be pinned on the reformed Bad Guys? And another has Wolf sparring with Diane in the gym, they are clearly flirting but trying to keep things professional. She represents the kind of life that Wolf and the rest of the Bad Guys could have, but getting there will be a struggle. There’s also a moment where they visit Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), the tiny villain from the first movie, who is imprisoned, Hannibal Lecter-style. It is very funny.
There’s a really dynamic sequence set at a Mexican luchador match, which was animated by DreamWorks Animation’s partner studio Sony Pictures Imageworks. The Bad Guys are trying to foil the theft of a wrestling belt made of a precious metal, but of course as they are trying to capture the actual criminal, they are framed for the act.
Through the footage, the narrative for the feature emerges, with the Bad Girls blackmailing the Bad Guys into helping them on an outrageous theft. There’s a very funny runner about how Doom is posing as Snake’s girlfriend and when she betrays him, he falls deeper in love with her. Kitty Kat eventually convinces Wolf to help them by showing him surveillance footage of Diane as the Crimson Paw, right after a theft. If he wants to save Diane, he has to help the truly villainous Bad Girls.
But what is their big criminal endeavor? Stealing a rocket ship from an Elon Musk-type tech impresario. The sequence of the Bad Guys using all of their skills to get onto a space shuttle as it is taking off, which again shows off the visual dynamism that was established in the first movie and really pushes here. There’s a great moment where the Bad Guys are hopscotching across big chunks of ice that are getting flung off the spacecraft. Just great.
When “The Bad Guys” was released in 2022, it marked the arrival of a fun and completely different franchise for DreamWorks Animation. Not only did it not look like anything the studio had produced, but it felt one-of-a-kind, with an attitude and swagger all its own. In the years since “The Bad Guys,” with films like “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and “The Wild Robot,” DreamWorks has continued to experiment with the look and tone of their features. And it’s nice to see “The Bad Guys” return, emboldened by what it has already accomplished and determined to break new ground.
“The Bad Guys 2” hits theaters on Aug. 1.
