THE BAD GUYS 2 (2025) review
written by: Yoni Brenner and Etan Cohen
produced by: Damon Ross
directed by: Pierre Perifel
rated: PG (for action/mild violence, rude humor and language)
runtime: 104 min.
U.S. release date: August 1, 2025
Ten years ago, author Aaron Blabey published his first in what would become a series of popular children’s books called The Bad Guys. In 2022, Dreamworks Animation released an adaptation called “The Bad Guys” introducing audiences to a quintet of anthropomorphic hoodlums who wrestle with doing good. French director Pierre Perifel crafted a high-energy action comedy that became a hit with colorful characters, spot-on voice work, and creative production design. Naturally, a sequel is here and Perifel is back behind the wheel, delivering more of the same and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
“The Bad Guys 2” opens with a flashback in Cairo, Egypt, that occurred five years ago. The slick thieving team was on a crucial operation that was the first to include their newest recruit, tech support/hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina). It’s a good way to kick off the sequel with high-octane energy, as expert pickpocket and master driver, Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), hatches a plan to steal a car from a billionaire (Omid Djalili) that escalates into an intense chase sequence.
We then catch up with the rest of the Bad Guys, including disguise expert Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), team muscle Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and safecracker and second-in-command Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), in present-day Los Angeles, where we learn they are having a hard time going legit. They’re having trouble paying bills and figuring out what to do with themselves after parting with their criminal ways. This is especially true for Mr. Wolf, whose girlfriend is red fox, Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), State Governor. (A subplot added here is that it is revealed to the public that Diane is also a secret thief.) The charming Wolf has the funniest of these “normal life” scenes, when he tries to convince a bank manager to give him a job of any kind, forgetting that this was one of the banks that he and his crew robbed. That’s immediately followed by a scene where Wolf sputters home in a dilapidated car that’s much different from the muscle cars he’s used to.
Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t delve into the socio-economic struggles of these characters for long, since the target audience is here for the laughs, bright colors, and kinetic action. There were a lot of funny things about the first movie, but one of them was how unnerved and scared citizens were at just the sight of these Bad Guys. It’s an entertaining bit, for sure, but it also creates sympathy for these characters as well. Sure, they’re criminals in this cartoon universe, but it’s not like they’re hurting anyone. If anything, they’ve used the stereotype of their looks to accomplish their crimes. But that also means that it’s tough for anyone to consider them any other way.
Which is what we find in “The Bad Guys 2”, where just about everyone is finding it difficult to take their turn to the “good side” seriously. Again, not much time is spent on this theme of acceptance and reform, since screenwriters Yoni Brenner and Etan Cohen are more concerned with moving things along at a rapid pace, and even shooting the whole franchise into outer space. That last part is impressive considering it took eight sequels for the Fast and Furious franchise to go there.
Because of their reputation, the Bad Guys are suspected of stealing valuable items made of a rare metal called MacGuffinite. Yes, that’s the writers having some fun. This doesn’t sit well with Mr. Wolf, and soon enough, he and his other pals are suspicious of Mr. Snake’s behavior, particularly because he’s been quite content after giving up a life of crime. As it turns out, there’s another team of thieves out there who are aiming to frame our antiheroes for their own gain – because a sequel means new characters!
This new trio of criminals is known as The Phantom Bandits, consisting of jaguar Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), warthog Pigtail (Maria Bakalova), and raven Doom (Natasha Lyonne), the latter of whom gets in a romantic fling with Mr. Snake. The Bad Guys find themselves manipulated and blackmailed into doing a job for the Bandits. The assignment is to attend the wedding of a tech billionaire named Mr. Moon (Colin Jost) and steal his smartwatch, which controls his empire and will provide access to the experimental MOON-X rocket. For a supposedly smart guy, wrapping access to your fortune around your wrist is far from a genius move. The wedding is a fun and smartly edited sequence that gives each Bad Guy a key part in infiltrating the ceremony without being noticed. The team goes through plenty of silly antics and amusing misdirection with the same slick and exciting animation from the previous movie.
Meanwhile, Diane has her own side quest, visiting Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade) in prison, and in a hilarious turn of events, the villainous guinea pig has got himself swole during his time in the slammer. Hoping to get some information from him, he reveals that Kitty plans on using the Multinational Space Station to steal all of the world’s gold with MacGuffinite, a metal that can magnetically attract gold. Much of the action of the third act occurs in space
Perifel piles on the spectacle during the movie’s inevitable large-scale final act to wow viewers. This time around, the focus is more on action rather than generating actual laughs. The sequel is a reminder that this ensemble cast is spot-on, bringing personality and comedic timing that align with the previous movie. “The Bad Guys 2” is bigger than its predecessor, but that doesn’t make it better. It may not be a stunner, but it’s entertaining fun, assuring more entries are to come.
RATING: ***
