The world of fairy tales meets American heist comedy films in “The Bad Guys” (2022), which loosely adapts Aaron Blabey’s children’s graphic novel series. The legendary Big Bad Wolf, Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell) leads a crew that hits a wall when they get caught red-handed and need to reform if they want to stay out of jail. Will they be able to turn over a new leaf and stay together?
Mr. Wolf is a smooth criminal complete with a white suit, but his tail betrays a softer side that reveals that his acceptance of his monstrous reputation is a defense mechanism against the public judging him and his friends based on their appearance. When he gets the opportunity to be considered a “good boy,” he is at war with himself. While desperate for the pubic to accept that he is more than his bad reputation, he still wants to maintain his street cred and pretend that he is above caring what others think. Rockwell practically has a PhD in playing appealing rogues. If given the choice between Rockwell playing a loveable racist or a fairy tale villain with a George Clooney demeanor, “The Bad Guys” is the preferable choice. Mr. Wolf’s dance moves are all Rockwell’s, and he is supposed to physically resemble Logan Lerman, who most recently appeared in “Oh, Hi!” (2025) and Dylan O’Brien. Why those two men? Dunno.
Mr. Wolf is more well-rounded than most characters in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (2025). He has friends, a nemesis and a love interest. The crew of thieves consists of Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), who tries to protect himself by preemptively pretending that they are not friends, so he won’t be vulnerable, but clearly relishes Mr. Wolf’s company. He is also notorious for having a pit of a stomach and refusing to share, which are key indicators that it may not be in his nature to change. Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina) or Webs is a hacker whose eight legs give her an advantage in speed of overcoming computerized security systems. Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) is deft at infiltrating anywhere within the story, but to the audience, all his disguises are flimsy. Finally, Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) is a little guy with a lot of fighting spirit, and his facial patterning looks like a 5 o’clock shadow. They are all animals that people would be frightened of if they encountered them in their natural environment. In “The Bad Guys,” human beings coexist with anthropomorphic animals and regular ones with no explanation.
For instance, there are normal guinea pigs, Mr. Snake’s favorite meal, and Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), an anthropomorphic guinea pig who is a famous and affluent British genius and philanthropist, who decides to reform these friends, which Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) allows. Yes, the governor is a fox, but “The Bad Guys” avoids taking low hanging fruit by making her a slick politician in the vein of a fox in the hen house. Foxington is an earnest public servant, but savvy and acerbic enough for her to trade witty repartee with Mr. Wolf and not be fooled at the plethora of cons that line the narrative. She is probably the smartest character in the story since she is inquisitive and suspicious without losing her ability to believe in people’s good nature and has the biggest range of traits. She also is a foil and potential love interest for Mr. Wolf without her losing her edge and feeling like a character that exists just for his benefit. She has a daytime pants look and an evening look.
On the duller side is Chief Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein), who is single-mindedly determined to stop crime and driven to stop the titular gang. Tiffany Fluffit (Lilly Singh) is a tv reporter who takes the pulse of public opinion regarding the group and gets the best satirical lines, which are more for the adults to enjoy though the kids may get the lesson: prejudging is prejudice and wrong so instead of people being innately bad, they may not have been given the opportunity to be anything else because of their appearance.
The styling of each character is impeccable, and each has a unique look that visually reinforces their personality traits. None of the women characters are gendered though Foxington can be foxy in her evening gown. The police chief is a bruiser, and Webs has a slouchy, hip hop style like the actor playing her. It was surprising that the five friends are called monsters, but the story never goes in a horror direction, which is probably faithful to the spirit of the source material. There is zero violence even though the source material which it is derived from is rife with it. People are terrified at the least provocation.
“The Bad Guys” is at its best in the beginning as it references and sanitizes Quentin Tarantino’s cinematic legacy (“Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction”) while establishing the rules of this universe. Once the reform section hits, the entire story becomes more predictable, and the adult portion of the audience may start to disassociate or nod off. It feels like the dialogue gets more leaden as it awkwardly delineates and announces the overall theme of each scene: will Marmalade be able to reform them, will the friends survive the change in character and will the public accept them and stop the real villain, which seems obvious early on. Kids will not see the twists coming, and this movie is for them, but the grown-ups may find themselves disassociating before the credits roll. Heist movie tropes are unfamiliar to kids so it will be fresh to them.
It is wild to think that “The Bad Guys” is Pierre Perifel’s directorial debut though his animation experience is stacked, and he may be best known for his work on the “Kung Fu Panda” franchise. He uses a lot of split screens and action direction in the animated panels. It is a dynamic film stacked with talent. After a while, revealing the Russian nesting doll logistics of the layered cons makes the film feel longer than necessary, but is required so no one whines about plot holes. It has an LA, old school Hollywood vibe, especially gangsters who are more about style than results.
Except for “Timon & Pumbaa” and “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” (2008), writer Etan Cohen does not usually write movies for kids, but animated series for teens and adults like “Beavis and Butt-Head,” “King of the Hill” and “American Dad!” Adult movie goers will be familiar with his now iconic “Idiocracy” (2006) and “Tropic Thunder” (2008). He nailed balancing archetypes with unique, relatable characters.
If you are an adult familiar with Elmore Leonard and want to start grooming your kids into having similar taste to you, “The Bad Guys” is for you, but if you are an adult hoping to get into kid movies, even though this movie is one of the best, it is still too staid to appeal to adult audiences not trying to get a nap. It is stylish, but not made for you,
