Director: Pierre Perifel

Writers: Etan Cohen and Hilary Winston

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Anthony Ramos, Craig Robinson, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Lilly Singh, and Alex Borstein

Rating: ★★★★

The Bad Guys is an animated film based on the series of children books written by Etan Cohen, who also co-wrote the film. It’s one of those children’s films that works for people of all ages, being funny, beautifully animated, and pure fun for everyone.

Mr Wolf (Sam Rockwell) leads a gang of thieves, known as The Bad Guys. Joining him is Snake (Marc Maron), Phirana (Anthony Ramos) a tarantula named Webs (Awkwafina), and a shark (Craig Robinson) who is the master of disguise. When a heist goes wrong, they are forced to turn good in order to avoid prison. At first this is just the long con to escape, but Wolf starts to see the benefits of being good and that causes friction between him and his friends.

There’s a great zany energy to the film that just clicks from the word go. The film starts, seemingly innocent, with Wolf and Snake talking while eating in a diner, only for it to be revealed that everyone else is scared and hiding against the walls as to them the pair are animals/monsters. A great joke to set the tone of the film. It also almost instantly breaks the fourth wall, as Wolf tells you to get closer, as he’s introducing the other characters. It’s punchy and quirky, quickly settling you in for a good time.

The characters are excellent, with everyone having a moment to shine. Mr Shark, who was able to steal the Mona Lisa while disguised as the Mona Lisa, is a highlight with his absurd disguises throughout the story. Wolf has some great moments when he first realises that doing good things, feels good, and his tail starts wagging. The cast are all brilliant, bringing life to the strange set of characters. The animation is absolutely brilliant, with visual flairs that pop off the screen. The designs and world just look amazing, feeling completely unique and perfectly fitting the story that is being told on screen.

With a great cast, lots of laugh out loud moments, and a fast-paced plot, there’s a lot to love about The Bad Guys. It’s an all-round great film and hopefully we will get sequels. There’s fifteenish books at the moment, so plenty more story to tell.

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