Bad Guys in space make for a fun film with good morals

MPAA Rating: PG
Reel Rating: 3 out of 4 reels

Disclaimer: This review contains (ridiculously silly) spoilers

It took the Fast and Furious franchise nine movies to eventually get their team of car-chasing investigators into outer space. It took The Bad Guys just two. The film starts as a slow burn but reaches a crazy fever pitch that makes up for the lackluster first half. Yet once you really do leave Earth, where do you go from there?

As the story begins, our five reformed heroes experience the difficulties that many former convicts face in readjusting to civilian life. Despite constant effort, none of them seems able to land a job. They live together in an abandoned bank, surviving off cold canned ravioli and an 80s television set.

Worse still is the crippling boredom that constantly tempts them back into their old ways. At least they have their dignity. Suddenly, they are pressed back into service, first by the police who need help to find a thief named the Phantom Bandit, then by the Phantom Bandit herself, who blackmails them into assisting her.

The Phantom Bandit is actually a team of three female villains led by Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), who has been stealing ancient artifacts containing the rare metal MacGuffinate. At least they did not call it unobtanium. This metal has a unique property of attracting gold like a magnet. Kat employs the Bad Guys to infiltrate a billionaire’s rocket, bring the metal into space, and use it to suck all the world’s gold into her waiting arms. It’s the perfect “stupid villain” plan for a silly movie, as it makes no sense physically, logically, or even financially. If you own all the gold in the world and have no intention of selling it, the product becomes worthless because nothing sets the price.

There’s a classic dilemma involved in films like this. The so-called “Bad Guys” are portrayed in a positive light: cool, heroic, and smart. As parents, it’s natural to be wary of seeing bank robbers as subjects of emulation for our children. However, the first film showed that immoral actions, such as theft and deception, have bad consequences. Yet, the reformed life appears dull and uninspired. This changes once the Bad Guys learn to employ their skills in undoing other schemes, much like an ex-hacker who then uses his knowledge to protect online privacy. God can take our murky past and use it for future good.

Another facet is the overtly ridiculous nature of the story and characters. It is so unrealistic that even children can understand this is a metaphor, designed to teach life lessons in a fun manner rather than via a lecture on ethics.

Once this is understood, the film becomes very enjoyable. The animation is bright and dynamic, taking framing cues from comic books to enhance the action. The characters are lovable and good-hearted. I was especially fond of the romance between Mr. Wolf and Diane Foxington, which was uncommonly charming. And the visuals in the final act, deep in outer space, were quite impressive, giving Interstellar and Gravity a run for their money.

There are still a few months left, but this has been a great year for animation. The King of Kings set the bar high, but with The Bad Guys 2, and more to come (which I cannot reveal quite yet), the American moviegoer has been treated to some top-notch cartoon entertainment. This comes after a several-year slump during which films tried to be edgy or culturally hip, only to suffer in both quality and at the box office.

It’s good to see, like the Bad Guys themselves, a return to simple goodness that always prevails.