Starring: Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Zazie Beetz, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, Maria Bakalova, Alex Borstein, Richard Ayoade, Lilly Singh
Written By: Yoni Brenner, Etan Cohen
Directed By: Pierre Perifel
Studio: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
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The popular graphic novel series and the kids’ movie based on it are back with a sequel. Much like the first film, there’s plenty of pizzazz, slick animation, loud obnoxious music, and plots that barely resemble the original books (yes, I’ve read most of them with my son).
Bad Guys 2 picks up with the gang coming out of retirement and being roped into helping an all-female criminal crew. Meanwhile, Marmalade is stuck in prison for most of the movie, and there’s something about the International Space Station and gold. I don’t know, the plot is pretty silly.
I enjoyed the first movie for what it was, and the same can be said here, though as a film it could have been better. The story feels a bit all over the place, but kids won’t care. It’s flashy, it’s noisy, and it moves like a YouTube short built for short attention spans.
There are still some fun moments, mainly involving Craig Robinson’s Mr. Shark, who continues to wear ridiculous disguises that cracked me up. The wedding scene was the best one. Sam Rockwell basically plays himself as Mr. Wolf, which works fine. Marc Maron brings his signature gruffness to Snake and clearly has fun with it. Awkwafina and Anthony Ramos also get a few good lines in.
The animation from Pierre Perifel is top-notch. They’ve nailed the characters’ look and style from the books. I just wish the story followed the source material a bit more. It seems like they’re slowly heading in that direction with Marmalade’s arc. Like the books, the movies end on cliffhangers that tease more adventures ahead. I’m assuming another sequel is inevitable.
The 4K and digital releases include a few short extras: deleted scenes, an animated short, some behind-the-scenes clips of the cast recording their lines, and a few other brief featurettes. They’re quick, fun, and worth checking out.
I didn’t enjoy Bad Guys 2 quite as much as the first, but it’s still a decent family movie that kids will like far more than adults, and that’s what really matters in the end.
Features:
Little Lies and Alibis
Deleted Scenes
Double Jeopardy: The Making of ‘Bad Guys 2’
Meet the Gang
Causing a Scene
Planning a Heist
Sketching the Bad Girls
Feature Commentary with Director Pierre Perifel, Co-Director JP Sans, Head of Character Animation Benjamin Willis, Head of Story Katherine de Vries, and Head of Cinematography, Layout Théophile Bondoux
Video:
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio:
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish
Bottom Line: Not as good as the first one but the kids will still enjoy it
Running Time: 104 mins
Rating: PG
Extras Rating:
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