- Sam Rockwell, Zazie Beetz, Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos
- July 25th 2025
- 104
- Pierre Perifel, JP Sans
The Bad Guys have turned their backs on the criminal life and are trying to be good when they’re forced to pull off one final heist.
The animated heist comedy, The Bad Guys, was a surprise hit back in 2022, so it’s no surprise that a sequel was swiftly put in motion.
In case you’ve forgotten, here’s a quick refresher: The Bad Guys are a team of criminals led by Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell). He’s joined by safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), the master of disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), the muscle Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and hacker Ms. Tarantula/Webs (Awkwafina).
Following on from the events of the first film, when they decided to be good, The Bad Guys 2 picks up with our band of thieves after they are released from prison and are trying to live an honest life.
However, they discover that being good isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – they are poor, nobody wants to give them a job, and the general public still doesn’t trust them.
In a bid to repair their reputation, they offer to help the police when a mysterious new bandit starts committing heists.
This introduces them to a new all-female criminal crew featuring Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), Doom (Natasha Lyonne) and Pigtail Petrova (Maria Bakalova), who make them carry out one last job.
Like its predecessor, The Bad Guys 2 is gorgeously animated and incredibly fun to watch, with a foot-tapping score and soundtrack.
The jokes and pop culture references are genuinely very funny, the action setpieces are extraordinary, and the talented voice actors inject their animated characters with oodles of charm and/or personality.
Admittedly, the story is a little absurd, and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, plus it feels like there aren’t enough narrative threads to warrant a sequel.
The film is also much more entertaining in the first half compared to the second, where the narrative quality and laugh ratio dip a little.
However, despite these issues, audiences (especially children) will still have a great time with this crime caper because the animation is awesome and there’s so much fun to be had.
It’s not often that an animated sequel bests its predecessor, but The Bad Guys 2 manages to do so. A guaranteed fun time at the cinema!
In cinemas from Friday 25th July.
By Hannah Wales.
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