Movie Review

Great cast makes The Bad Guys 2 another animated success

Snake, Shark, Wolf, Piranha, and Tarantula in The Bad Guys 2.

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures / DreamWorks Animation

For a long time, Disney was the undisputed champion when it came to animated movies, but in the 21st century, Dreamworks Animation has gone toe-to-toe with them, establishing franchises like Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. In 2022 Dreamworks released the instant winner The Bad Guys, which naturally made it easy for the studio to greenlight a sequel, The Bad Guys 2.

In the first film, the criminal group known as the Bad Guys - Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Snake (Marc Maron), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Shark (Craig Robinson), and Piranha (Anthony Ramos) - made the decision to go good. Now, even though they caught and helped imprison the evil guinea pig Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade), their old reputation continues to haunt them, with none of them able to secure a real job.

When a thief starts stealing various valuable items made of a material called “MacGuffinite,” the Bad Guys are prime suspects, especially in the eyes of police chief-turned-commissioner Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein). It’s up to the Bad Guys to clear their own name, with some help from Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), as well as a trio of new female villains: Doom (Natasha Lyonne), Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), and Pigtail (Maria Bakalova).

Directed by Pierre Perifel and JP Sans, and written by Etan Cohen and Yoni Brenner, the film has the same manic energy as the first film, going in so many oddball directions that it can’t help but entertain. Taking place in a world where humans and human-like animals live side-by-side with no one batting an eye, at no point does the film pretend to play the normal rules of physics. Because of this, it feels completely natural for them to jump cars off buildings, be twisted into unnatural shapes, and even go to space on the outside of a ship.

The idea of the main group being somewhat reformed criminals adds on a layer of complexity to the story that is not present in most films aimed at children. There are references to other heist movies and some slightly off-color jokes, but more than anything it’s the vibe that a good crime-adjacent story can have. Everyone can laugh at the ridiculous and completely unbelievable ways Shark disguises himself, but the way that kind of thing relates to the history of crime/spy movies makes it even more enjoyable for those with a broad cinematic knowledge.

What makes the series, and this film in particular, so fun is that it brings in elements that appeal to adults while still staying laser-focused on entertaining kids. The design of the characters, which are completely different from the ones in the book series by Australian author Aaron Blabey, are subtle in some ways and over-the-top in others. The filmmakers once again combine different animation styles to make all of the characters pop, and various exotic locations - including outer space - give the animators plenty of opportunities to show their skills.

The cast of the film was on the money in the first film, and each of them prove themselves again here. As the lead, Rockwell gets the most opportunities to show his worth, but each of the main actors makes their character their own. New additions like Lyonne, Brooks, and Bakalova fit in seamlessly, with Lyonne even inspiring her character’s look to a degree.

Not every Dreamworks Animation film has been a success, but The Bad Guys 2 avoids sequelitis by keeping what worked from the first film and adding in just enough new stuff to keep things interesting. With fun characters, compelling design, and a story that goes in unexpected directions, the film makes it easy to root for the bad guys.

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The Bad Guys 2 is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

Safe cracking is a snap for White Lotus alum Leo Woodall in Tuner

Photo courtesy of Black Bear

Leo Woodall in Tuner.

Of all the ways that movies depict people trying to steal money and other valuables, safe cracking is among the least exciting. By design, it’s a laborious process that only those with a very certain set of skills can do. While clever editing and the right music can enhance scenes of safes being cracked, there’s a reason that the method is among the least used in heist films.

In the new film Tuner, Niki (Leo Woodall) has a job and a condition that just happens to lend itself well to committing that specific crime. He works as an apprentice piano tuner for Harry (Dustin Hoffman), usually doing the hard work while Harry schmoozes the client. Niki is well-suited for the job because he has a rare condition called hyperacusis, which makes him both sensitive to loud noises and able to hear subtle things that others cannot.

When he runs across a trio of criminals trying to break open a safe at a house where he’s tuning a piano, he helps them more out of frustration than avarice. But when Harry goes into the hospital and racks up huge bills, Niki decides to join the group to make some quick money. They soon want more than he’s willing to give, and he must find a way to extricate himself from them without losing himself completely.

Written and directed by documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher (making his narrative feature debut) and co-written by Robert Ramsey, the film has a nice pace to it despite there being relatively little action. Roher and Ramsey spend the first third or so establishing Niki, Harry, and Harry’s wife Marla (Tovah Feldshuh) as characters, letting the audience understand their relationships and how they interact with each other.

The time they devote to the personal storytelling pays dividends when Niki starts to descend into crime, as his divided loyalties - not to mention the danger of the thefts - insert tension into the plot. That stress is heightened even more when Niki starts a relationship with piano student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), as getting closer to her necessitates a series of lies.

There comes a point, though, where the plot stagnates to a degree. Niki’s end goal, if he has one, is never clear, and it’s obvious that it’s only a matter of time before things start to fall apart. After starting strong in their character development, Roher and Ramsey take shortcuts as the film rushes toward its conclusion. This is most notable in a weird argument scene between Niki and Ruthie that comes out of nowhere and seems to serve no purpose in the story.

Woodall, who had a memorable turn in season 2 of The White Lotus, is on the cusp of breaking out, and this understated-but-compelling lead role should help him become an even bigger name in Hollywood. Hoffman has a small role, but he remains as interesting as ever despite the lack of screentime. Liu (Bottoms) is also an up-and-coming actor who should become a star with more roles like this one.

Tuner is a low-key thriller that succeeds because of the way the filmmakers approach the under-used method of robbery. Even if it doesn’t quite reach its potential, the film maintains a high quality throughout thanks to its storytelling and acting.

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Tuner is now playing in theaters.

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