Film Reviews: The Bad Guys serves up sweet-natured musings on goodies and baddies
Marc Maron and Sam Rockwell explore the duality of existence in The Bad Guys
★★★★☆
‘Go bad or go home,’ is the mantra of (G), a bank-robbing gang of arch-criminals composed of Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell), Snake (Marc Maron), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Shark (Craig Robinson) and Piranha (Anthony Ramos).
Caught in the act of pulling off their latest heist, the Bad Guys are on their way to prison when the philanthropist guinea-pig (!) Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade) proposes an alternative: if the Bad Guys take part in his revolutionary new reform programme, and prove themselves capable of doing good, they can return to society as free creatures.
Adapted from Aaron Blabey’s graphic novels for young readers, and directed by Pierre Perifel, is a charming animated feature that asks a profound question: is behaviour, good or bad, a matter of nature or nurture?
We’re conditioned to expect the worst of the sharks, piranhas and tarantulas of this world, of course, but where this movie scores is in allowing its villains to develop into rounded characters — Snake, for example, might be hellbent on living the criminal life, but for Snake it’s a matter of choice and aptitude rather than animal instinct.
Entertaining for kids and adults alike — the latter can enjoy spotting the classic heist movie references, which include and — is a sweet-natured animation that wears its philosophical musings lightly.
(cinema release)
