The Bad Guys 2 (2025)
Sequels, on paper at least, should be- relatively speaking- a piece of cake. Once you've got your characters and situations established, your audience presumably wants more of the same. But it's not as simple as that. Plenty of animated sequels have come unstuck by simply repeating themselves or by changing too much. The Bad Guys was an unexpected hit when it was released in 2022. How successful is 2025's The Bad Guys 2? Is it merely "more of the same", does it break with the formula or does it find a fine balance between the two?
The Bad Guys 2 is produced by DreamWorks Animation with additional animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks. Its initial release was on July 25, 2025 in the United Kingdom and August 1 in the United States. Pierre Perifel returns as director, with JP Sans, director of character animation on the first movie, as co-director. The script is written by Yoni Brenner, and Etan Cohen, based on the book series by Aaron Blabey, who is also an executive producer. The score is composed by Daniel Pemberton.
It stars the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz and Alex Borstein, all reprising their roles from the first film. Joining them are newcomers Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, Maria Bakalova and Omid Djalili.
Following the events of the first film The Bad Guys, a former gang of animal criminals, are still trying the convince the world they've gone straight for real. Mr Wolf in particular is struggling to find work, confused why they wouldn't want to employ him in the bank he has robbed many times. But before they can change their reputation, they are hijacked by an all-female gang of crooks (The Bad Girls) who force them into doing One Last Job.
The film opens with a spectacular set-piece. Set years ago, before The Bad Guys reformed, it revolves around a daring heist in Cairo. The gang steals a valuable car from a billionaire, voiced by British-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili. The resulting car chase seems to involve the entire Egyptian police force- and is extremely entertaining. Full of energy, action and knockabout fun, it starts as it means to go on.
The film's animation style returns from the original. It's extremely distinctive, cartoonish and bold, incorporating 2D effects, speedlines and painted backgrounds and influenced by anything from comic-books to anime. It was extremely eye-catching in the original and it's much the same here- if anything, it ups the ante on the first film. It's not quite Into The Spider-Verse, but it's still a lot different from most of the animation coming out of major studios.
The film is -of course- pretty heavily influenced by heist and con movies. The sequel has even more fun riffing on them and poking gentle fun at them- there's no venom here. The credits describe the film as a "DreamWorks caper" and that sums it up perfectly. It's a breezy and fast-moving romp that will entertain viewers of all ages.
Aside from the visuals, a lot of the film's appeal comes from its characters. The Bad Guys themselves are an extremely amusing bunch, with contrasting personalities and distinctive characters. The addition of the Bad Girls adds an extra edge to proceedings and adds an air of menace. One character who is perhaps less well served by this sequel is Wolf's love interest Diane, who has a smaller role this time around.
The strong characters are backed up with an excellent ensemble of voice actors. anchored by an effortlessly cool Sam Rockwell as Mr Wolf. The cast is excellent across the board and very funny. As the main new additions, the Bad Girls also equip themselves well, with Danielle Brooks doing good work as the main baddie.
The film contains other great set pieces, including a heist at a wedding. But the film's climax sees them stealing a rocket, for an exhilarating and visually astonishing thrill-ride. There's an old film adage that when a franchise goes to space, it's run out of ideas. This franchise has gone there after only two films, but there's no danger of that here. No one could accuse this film of lacking imagination.
It's hard to say whether this is better than the original or not. They're both consistent in quality, and similarly entertaining. Yes, it's "more of the same" but when it's this entertaining, who's complaining?
The film concludes with a change to the status quo that definitely sets up a potential sequel (or sequels). And based on what we see here, that would be a very welcome prospect indeed.
IN A NUTSHELL: Fast, funny and gorgeously animated The Bad Guys 2 is a stonker of a sequel.
Fast, funny and gorgeously animated The Bad Guys 2 is a stonker of a sequel.
★★★★☆
