There’s been no shortage of sequels thus far across cinema screens in 2025.
And, for the most part, they’ve all proven themselves worthy of existence (Freakier Friday), been a satisfactory entrant in their franchise (The Final Reckoning), or, at least, gone for broke in their attempt to distance from their predecessor (M3GAN 2.0).
So where does something like The Bad Guys 2 fall in line? A continuation to one of 2022’s most joyous, surprising offerings (rightfully titled The Bad Guys), Pierre Perifel‘s heist sequel follows suits, letting us in on the fact that the titular motley crew are trying their best to live a straight and narrow life, but, understandably, employers aren’t exactly jumping at the chance to take chances on proven ex-cons.
With no money and no job prospects, it’s a little too enticing to get back to what they know best, but Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) are determined to prove their good-ness, which is made even more difficult by the fact that a figure known as The Phantom Bandit is executing a series of crimes and pinning it on the once Bad Guys.
The police commissioner, Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein), is convinced Wolf and his crew have failed to turn over a new leaf, so they offer to catch the Phantom Bandit in their best bid to prove their innocence. Of course, this is all easier said than done, and when the Phantom reveals herself as Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), a ferocious feline heading The Bad Girls – which also consists of Doom, the raven (Natasha Lyonne), and Pigtail Petrova (Maria Bakalova), a wild boar – it’s even more clear that The Bad Guys have their work cut out for them; and not just cause Kitty holds them at ransom regarding the true criminal identity of Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), the State Governor who has her own history of crime to contend with.
Whilst Yoni Brenner and Etan Cohen‘s script travels where you mostly expect it to, The Bad Guys 2, as a film, still delights in surprising audiences with its more mature temperament regarding the classic heist movie tropes it leans into. It’s a kids film that, had this been live-action, would likely be lapped up by the same audiences that hold an affection for such series as Mission: Impossible, The Fast and the Furious, and Ocean’s Eleven. It’s genuinely exciting as to how it enjoys the conventions of the genre, and, to Perifel’s credit, he blocks and choreographs the film as if each creature on screen were a genuine person. It’s a stunning picture to behold, especially when it travels into outer space in its latter half, which, as outlandish as it sounds, is handled surprisingly organically.
Next to the film’s action and comedic temperament, The Bad Guys 2 is unexpectedly emotional in how it looks at the titular crew’s treatment. We understand that their past behaviour has a weight on their current selves, but the film drives home how turning over a new leaf is possible. When Wolf is called a monster, he is genuinely affected by its suggestion, and whilst no one is saying that, in the animal kingdom, animals like wolves, snakes, spiders, piranhas and sharks shouldn’t be feared, but so many of their attacks are out of protection for their own environment. Author Aaron Blabey and screenwriters Brenner and Cohen take a look at the larger mentality of why these “bad guys” are deemed so, and it serves as a welcome message for how we fear the things we don’t understand.
But because Perifel is so clearly in tune with how to make an action film as exciting as it should be zany for the intended younger audience, The Bad Guys 2 presents its deeper, more impressive layers with a genuine charm and animated sense of humour. If you enjoyed the first film, there’s no reason you won’t want to jump back into this excitable world, and if this is your first venture, it picks up enough of the original’s laid groundwork to prove a coherent standalone venture.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The Bad Guys 2 is screening in Australian theatres from September 18th, 2025.
