The Bad Guys – Film Review
by Fran Winston

Directed by: Pierre Perifel
Starring the voices of: Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Anthony Ramos, Craig Robinson, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Lilly Singh, Alex Borstein

This comes with a ready-made fan base since it’s based on the children’s book series by Aaron Blabey. I have to be honest, I’d never heard of this series before but apparently, the books are hugely popular.  For those who also aren’t familiar with the series, it follows a gang of criminal animals, Mr Wolf (Rockwell), Mr Piranha (Ramos), Mr Snake (Maron), Mr Shark (Robinson), and Ms Tarantula (Awkwafina) who attempt to mend their historically bad ways and turn good although their efforts usually go awry.

In this big-screen outing, when a heist goes horribly wrong they are facing a long time in jail. However, Wolf manages to persuade the authorities to let them work with renowned humanitarian Professor Marmalade (Ayoade) to mend their ways. Of course, being bad guys, this is all a ruse to allow them to commit the ultimate heist, but as they undertake Marmalade’s programme they find that they quite enjoy being good. Unfortunately, their past reputation makes them perfect scapegoats for a master criminal to frame for his crimes.

Having seen the trailers for this I was actually looking forward to it despite being a smidge older than the target audience. It looked like really good fun… and it is! The animation is slick and Mr Snake in particular is very cleverly envisioned. The cast really enjoys their roles, especially Rockwell who brings Mr Wolf to life. Although, for some reason, Richard Ayoade as Marmalade sounds suspiciously like David Mitchell.

It is cleverly scripted with plenty that adults will knowingly giggle at while the children remain oblivious. Overall it is a pretty perfect family movie that can be enjoyed by both young and old.