It’s been a good while since I reviewed an animated movie geared at kids, so, I took a stab at ‘The Bay Guys’ last week.
The trailer didn’t wow me very much, but at the end of the film, I was pleasantly surprised.
Plenty of jokes catered to audience members of all ages and it had an overall lesson worth reminding – you can’t judge someone based on a stereotype.
The Bad Guys is a computer-animated crime comedy film loosely based on the children’s book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures.
The film was directed by Pierre Perifel, written by Etan Cohen, and stars the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, and Lilly Singh.
It’s rated PG for action and rude humor and clocks in at 100 minutes long.
In Los Angeles, where humans and anthropomorphic animals co-exist, The Bad Guys are a gang of notorious criminal animals led by the cool-headed Mr. Wolf (Rockwell).
They commit brazen thefts and successfully evade the authorities due to the public’s interpretation of them as inherently “bad” animals – Mr. Snake (Maron), Mr. Shark (Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Ramos), and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina).
After being insulted by Governor Diane Foxington (Beetz) on live television, Wolf convinces his gang to pull off a heist to steal a valuable award called the Golden Dolphin from guinea pig philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (Ayoade), during his inauguration at a gala.
The Golden Dolphin is awarded to the person who does good deeds and Professor Marmalade has been doing just that since a heart-shaped meteorite hit the city and caused plenty of destruction.
During the heist, Wolf takes some free time to pickpocket various people, but inadvertently helps an elderly woman and is praised for the good deed, leading to Wolf finding himself affected by his wrongdoings.
It’s definitely a new feeling for Wolf to be called a “good boy” and he has no idea how to handle himself.
As such his new confusion and strange behavior cause the mission to fail.
After the gang is exposed and arrested, Wolf persuades Marmalade with Foxington’s approval to reform them, planning to take advantage of the pretense to steal the award again.
Marmalade invites the Bad Guys to his home, but his lessons prove to be a struggle with them, seemingly unable to adapt to the concept of good behavior.
After a “heist for good” to rescue a herd of guinea pigs from a research lab fails due to Snake eating them, Foxington decides to call off the experiment.
But, she relents when Wolf confesses that he despises being hated for his species, with Foxington admitting that she understands him and that she has hope for him.
Wolf contemplates the matter and finds himself rescuing a cat from a tree, which Marmalade records and publishes, turning the public image of the Bad Guys around.
However, Snake fears that he is losing touch with his friend.
And that’s where the gang hits a rocky patch.
Overall, the film has a good message and even shows how friendship can grow and change.
It’s a family-friendly flick that’s worth catching on the big screen.
