Review of The Bad Guys (2022) by Compi24 — 07 Jun 2022

Easily one of the bigger surprises of the year for me, DreamWorks Animation's heist comedy "The Bad Guys" contains some of the best-looking and most expressive animation you'll see this side of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," and some of the finest set pieces since that film too.

The whole "misunderstood bad guy(s)" trope is certainly not new ground within the realm of animated film (see "Wreck-It Ralph," the "Despicable Me" franchise or even DreamWorks' own "Shrek" quadrilogy for reference), so it's not as if this had a particularly easy task ahead of it in the narrative department (for me, at least).

Thankfully, this unique take on the admittedly familiar thematic material, coupled with some disarmingly funny comedic bits littered throughout, was enough to push things into the realm of greatness. I dug the voice cast in this as well and I normally vie against the idea of casting name talent in favor of proper voice actors.

Really, though, I think the cast in question suited the overall tone and concept at hand. I really had a great time watching this. A rare, shining example of a well-animated family comedy suited perfectly for both children and adults.