The Bad Guys 2
review by Bobby Blakey
Dreamworks has a long line of great animated features including How To Train Your Dragon and Shrek franchises. In 2022 they introduced the world to The Bad Guys that have gone onto spin-off into numerous short specials and now they are back for the next chapter of the series aptly titled The Bad Guys 2. The film features Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos and Awkwafina as well as newcomers to the series Danielle Brooks, Maria Bakalova and Natasha Lyonne.
The Bad Guys 2 follows a crackerjack crew of animal outlaws, our now-reformed Bad Guys are trying (very, very hard) to be good but instead find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes, globe-trotting heist, masterminded by a new team of criminals they never saw coming: The Bad Girls.
The first film was one of those surprise hits that upon revisiting it is still a great fun ride. It is a no brainer to return to this world once again and I was here for it. One of the biggest issues sometimes with these sequels is the need to just rehash it all again, but here they took what was so great about the original and amped it up in an outrageous fun direction. The film kicks things off with some history and a great heist before bringing us back to where we are now in the present day. This sequence gave us a look at the old version when they were still bad guys before moving forward with this latest caper adventure.
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The new story is excellent, introducing new characters and bringing back some old ones in fun new ways. The cast are perfect as usual and bring the great chemistry across the board showcasing the crew as being more of a family than just accomplices. New characters brings new connections and conflict and they lean
into all of it to make it not only fun but to help evolve the characters in some new ways.
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The animation is top notch once again with the action portions being high octane and fun on every level. I had a blast with this film, and the final act went out of this world to really take things to the next level. It offers the perfect ending to the story while opening the future to these characters should we get another entry, and I hope we do. They have opened the doors for a whole new place to go, and I am here for it.
Stick around for a mid-credit scene that teases things to come. In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including the exclusive animated short “Little Lies and Alibis” as well as never-before-seen features including deleted scenes, hilarious recording booth moments, how to draw character sketch tutorials with filmmakers, and more.
Joi the all-new heist and grab your copy of The Bad Guys 2 available now on digital and then on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on October 7th from Universal Home Entertainment.
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