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Fast-paced, funny, and full of colorful visual appeal, The Bad Guys is good news for audiences seeking options the whole family can enjoy.Read critic reviews
Audience Says
The Bad Guys' eye-catching animation will entertain the kids, parents will appreciate the movie's message, and the wall-to-wall jokes will keep the whole family laughing.Read audience reviews
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Watch The Bad Guys with a subscription on Peacock, rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, or buy on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu.
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The Bad Guys videos
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - Yeah, It Was a Trap
CLIP 2:52
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - Stealing Guinea Pigs
CLIP 2:40
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - How to Be Good
CLIP 2:52
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - Stealing The Golden Dolphin
CLIP 3:17
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - Guinea Pig Car Chase
CLIP 3:45
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - Mr. Wolf & Diane Dance
CLIP 3:54
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - Girls Trip!
CLIP 2:02
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - Meet The Bad Guys
CLIP 3:35
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - Ninja Fox Attack
CLIP 2:13
The Bad Guys: Official Clip - The Old Switcheroo
CLIP 2:15
The Bad Guys: Movie Clip - Good Tonight
CLIP 4:01
The Bad Guys: Movie Clip - Mr. Wolf's First GOOD Deed
CLIP 1:43
The Bad Guys: First 6 Minutes
CLIP 7:09
The Bad Guys: Featurette - Bad Life Lessons
FEATURETTE 0:47
The Bad Guys: Featurette - Creating the Look
FEATURETTE 2:30
The Bad Guys: Teaser - The Bad Guys Are Good
TV SPOT 0:56
The Bad Guys: Featurette - The Perfect Score
FEATURETTE 2:23
The Bad Guys: Featurette - Choreography
FEATURETTE 1:29
The Bad Guys: Featurette - Directing
FEATURETTE 1:47
The Bad Guys: Movie Clip - The Chief Chases the Bad Guy
In the new action comedy from DreamWorks Animation, based on the New York Times best-selling book series, a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws are about to attempt their most challenging con yet--becoming model citizens. Never have there been five friends as infamous as The Bad Guys--dashing pickpocket Mr. Wolf (Academy Award® winner Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), seen-it-all safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron, GLOW), chill master-of-disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson, Hot Tub Time Machine franchise), short-fused "muscle" Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) and sharp-tongued expert hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians), aka "Webs." But when, after years of countless heists and being the world's most-wanted villains, the gang is finally caught, Mr. Wolf brokers a deal (that he has no intention of keeping) to save them all from prison: The Bad Guys will go good. Under the tutelage of their mentor Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade, Paddington 2), an arrogant (but adorable!) guinea pig, The Bad Guys set out to fool the world that they've been transformed. Along the way, though, Mr. Wolf begins to suspect that doing good for real may give him what he’s always secretly longed for: acceptance. So when a new villain threatens the city, can Mr. Wolf persuade the rest of the gang to become... The Good Guys?
Even though it's based on a popular series of children's books, if you've seen Zootopia, you've seen the better version of The Bad Guys. As far as entertainment aimed at the wee ones, you can certainly do worse. It's brisk, silly, and the animation is quite enjoyable, adding hand-drawn overlays and accents that really make the images pop and provide additional, gratifying textures. The story, on the other hand, is the same old-same old. We have a group of "scary animals" in a world where anthropomorphized creatures walk side-by-side with humans. These spooky creatures get a bad rap because people fear them, so they lean into social prejudices and become a notorious criminal gang. Except now they might want to go good because being good feels better than being bad. Thematically, it's the same territory that Zootopia trod and with better world-building. We have "bad animals" that are tired of being looked as bad because people wrongly interpret them as scary threats. It's the predator/prey dynamic but without the depth. Having an all-animal heist crew provides some creative entertainment and Ocean's 11-style moments of frothy fun; I especially enjoyed that the giant shark is the team's master of disguise and always very obvious. The character arcs, supposed betrayals, redemption, and plot should be familiar and predictable, which means much of the movie must coast on the appeal of the animation, vocal actors, and general sense of humor. The comedy can be amusing but too often falls upon cheap gags, like the piranha's defining trait of being a nervous farter. The Bad Guys is suitable for animation aficionados, fans of the book series, and people who have never seen Zootopia, and if that's you, then just watch Zootopia.
Nate's Grade: C+
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