“The Bad Guys” started as a book series by an Australian author Aaron Blabey back in 2015. The central premise of the series focuses on a group of animals who have earned the reputation of “bad guys.” This group originally consisted of a wolf, a shark, a snake, and a piranha (with more animals, such as a tarantula joining the team later). This group of self-proclaimed good guys tries to prove that the stereotypes are wrong and that not all predators are evil. However, they often cause more problems, such as trying to help caged animals break out of their cages only to find out the cages are a prison, and they try to do things like this to try and prove that they’re good throughout most of the book series.

Dreamworks was working on a film that goes over this series. The film was originally planned to be released on September 17, 2021, but COVID had other plans, so director Pierre Perifel and his team decided to change the release date to April 15, 2022. However, this turned out to be false, and the film was released about a week later, on April 22, 2022. The film’s voice actors consist of Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf, Craig Robinson as Mr. Shark, Marc Maron as Mr. Snake, and many others such as Anthony Ramos and Awkwafina as Mr. Piranha and Ms. Tarantula.

The film itself seems to do well. It doesn’t have many bad moments, it has its jokes, and it acts as a bridge between older and younger generations with its heist movie theme. “The Bad Guys” starts with two main characters, Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake, eating at a diner. Everyone besides Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake at the diner hugs the wall in fear that the two “bad guys” will commit a crime. The two characters walk out of the diner to a bank across the street, where they start a robbery and start a car chase, where Mr. Wolf acts as a sort of narrator, telling the viewer who the characters are and how the world treats them. 

The gang of predators goes to their secret hideout to celebrate Mr. Snake’s birthday and watch what the news says about them. As they watch, the Governor, Tiffany Fluffit, played by Lilly Singh, essentially states that the bad guys are just a bunch of losers who feel bad about themselves. This angers Mr. Wolf so much that he suggests stealing an item no one has stolen successfully, the Golden Dolphin. Mr. Snake protests the idea until he finds out that the one receiving the trophy is a guinea pig (Mr. Snake’s favorite food is guinea pig). 

The heist seems to be going well, with the group getting all the things required until Mr. Wolf accidentally drops a ring setting off a trap. Even after almost getting caught, they somehow manage to steal the award and are about to walk away when Mr. Wolf hears the guinea pig’s speech. Mr. Wolf accidentally reveals his identity to everyone at the party, which causes him and his friends to get caught, but right before Mr. Wolf is put into a prison truck, he manages to convince the guinea pig to try to convert the bad guys into the good guys. 

The group’s training to be good guys doesn’t seem to be working, and the public’s opinion of them seems to have worsened after misunderstanding what they were trying to do. Fluffit and Mr. Wolf talk, with Fluffit stating that a wolf and a fox aren’t different, which causes Mr. Wolf starts thinking about whether he wants to be bad or good. 

As mentioned earlier, “The Bad Guys” serves sort of as a bridge that connects the younger generations with older generations. There are many references to older heist movies like “Ocean’s 11” and other things for the older generations but has the sort of cartoony style for those of the younger generation. 

Overall the film is a good family show with its references, good story and it has some good jokes here and there.