The Bad Guys

The Bad guys follows a gang of criminal animals who try to improve their image while planning their next big heist.

Animation has really come a long way lately; between Mitchells vs the Machines and Turning Red, more and more animated movies are bringing the energy of 2D animation to movies that have traditionally felt very stiff.
The animation here is top notch; every movement feels exaggerated perfectly and is full of energy, but not to the point where it becomes distracting; it knows when to slow down and take its time to let the emotion of the scene sink in.

This carries over to the action scenes, that are expertly choreographed and full of life.
Every movement and camera view helps deliver a rush of adrenaline, even more so than most live action movies.

Its characters too are well defined and likeable, helped by some great casting.
Usually the celebrity stunt casting of animated movies can work against the movie, since you just hear the celebrity and not the character, but here it feels like everyone disappears into their role, including Richard Ayoade, who has a very particular voice and delivery had me convinced of his character by the end.

It’s not exactly a deep story, and most of the twists I saw coming a mile away, but that’s part of the curse of having seen so many movies; I can see kids getting a real kick out of the twists and turns of this plot.
But while it’s not another movie like Pixar, that combines deep themes with child friendly animation, this makes up for it with overwhelming style.
The editing and pacing are really slick and easily comparable to the heist movies it’s emulating.

CONCLUSION

Its a pretty standard kids movie plot, but a great looking one.
The animation, editing and action are high grade, with a great cast to bring it together.

I’ve heard the phrase, “if Disney is classical music, then Dreamworks is jazz”, and this is the embodiment of that.
It’s not gonna deconstruct anything or examine to complexities of puberty, but it is going to keep you entertained for the entire run time,
and if the previews for the new Puss in Boots are any indication, this is a brilliant direction for this studio to be heading in artistically, with well styled and energetic animation that can give it identity to distinguish from Disney and Pixar.
I loved this and hope to see more in the future.