'The Bad Guys' It's really good... guys (No Spoiler review)

'The Bad Guys' is the best animated feature since 'Into the Spiderverse'

I feel that animation in the past decade (with a few exceptions such as Into the Spiderverse or Coco) has largely felt the same. The generic wide eyed Pixar look has become predictable and overplayed, almost a crutch for the animation industry. I felt that this was the case until I saw a trailer for The Bad Guys, which looked like a very unique take on animation. As excited as ever, I recently sat down in theatres to watch it and it’s safe to say I wasn’t disappointed.

Immediately the film stands out on a purely aesthetic level. The hand drawn background really contrast the cutely drawn characters but do not take away from the overall feeling of the film. Each character, even background characters such as police officers, feel like they have each been lovingly animated with a timeless cartoony style. I believe the best design choice, however, was to put 2D eyes and cel shading on every character. Cel Shading is the when you make the shadows and shading in 3D animation, emulate that of 2D, (use the hyperlink previous for a better explanation) and is not new to animation certainly (Gen:Lock, Demon Slayer), but I don’t think I can recall an animated feature where the studio decided to animate the eyes differently. This gives the movie a great comic bookish feel that helps the film stand out. I noticed Ms Tarantula (Awkwafina) to be especially adorable as she is, you know, A SPIDER… (great lashes though can’t lie). This decision helps portray The Bad Guys as more lovable than other depictions of Wolves, Spiders, Sharks, Piranhas and Snakes in other mediums.

All of this is wrapped up in a fantastic score by Daniel Pemberton. Clearly inspired by the heist movie classics (Ocean's Eleven, Fast 5, Italian Job) the music pounces when it needs to and is subtle in moments of emotion. But the stand out is all the original songs they made for the film. I won’t spoil them, but the musical number in the film was a very welcome and fun surprise.

None of this takes away from the story of the whole film. Based on the books by Aaron Blabey, the story is a fun, and sometimes tense, action adventure ultimately about what it means to be yourself with those around you. (And yes it’s absolutely a better metaphor for chosen family than the Fast and Furious films).

The Bad Guys is a refreshing change to the typical animation we have come to expect, almost making the ‘pixar look’ seem lazy now. The unique style and sound of the film only boosts the heart warming story. A MUST SEE movie for everyone. Adults and children alike can learn a thing or two from watching The Bad Guys. (Do I hear film of the year???)