For a very long time, Disney was the undisputed champion when it got here to animated motion pictures, however within the twenty first century, Dreamworks Animation has gone toe-to-toe with them, establishing franchises like Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How one can Practice Your Dragon. In 2022 Dreamworks launched the moment winner The Unhealthy Guys, which naturally made it straightforward for the studio to greenlight a sequel, The Unhealthy Guys 2.
Within the first movie, the felony group generally known as the Unhealthy Guys – Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Snake (Marc Maron), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Shark (Craig Robinson), and Piranha (Anthony Ramos)— made the choice to go good. Now, though they caught and helped imprison the evil guinea pig Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade), their outdated popularity continues to hang-out them, with none of them in a position to safe an actual job.
When a thief begins stealing varied beneficial objects manufactured from a cloth referred to as “MacGuffinite,” the Unhealthy Guys are prime suspects, particularly within the eyes of police chief-turned-commissioner Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein). It’s as much as the Unhealthy Guys to clear their very own title, with some assist from Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), in addition to a trio of recent feminine 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 movie has the identical manic power as the primary movie, getting in so many oddball instructions that it may well’t assist however entertain. Going down in a world the place people and human-like animals dwell side-by-side with nobody batting an eye fixed, at no level does the movie faux to play the conventional guidelines of physics. Due to this, it feels fully pure for them to leap automobiles off buildings, be twisted into unnatural shapes, and even go to area on the skin of a ship.
The concept of the primary group being considerably reformed criminals provides on a layer of complexity to the story that’s not current in most movies aimed toward youngsters. There are references to different heist motion pictures and a few barely off-color jokes, however greater than something it’s the vibe {that a} good crime-adjacent story can have. Everybody can snicker on the ridiculous and fully unbelievable methods Shark disguises himself, however the best way that form of factor pertains to the historical past of crime/spy motion pictures makes it much more gratifying for these with a broad cinematic information.
What makes the sequence, and this movie specifically, so enjoyable is that it brings in components that enchantment to adults whereas nonetheless staying laser-focused on entertaining children. The design of the characters, that are fully totally different from those within the ebook sequence by Australian creator Aaron Blabey, are refined in some methods and over-the-top in others. The filmmakers as soon as once more mix totally different animation types to make all the characters pop, and varied unique places — together with outer area — give the animators loads of alternatives to indicate their abilities.
The solid of the movie was on the cash within the first movie, and every of them show themselves once more right here. Because the lead, Rockwell will get probably the most alternatives to indicate his price, however every of the primary actors makes their character their very own. New additions like Lyonne, Brooks, and Bakalova slot in seamlessly, with Lyonne even inspiring her character’s look to a level.
Not each Dreamworks Animation movie has been a hit, however The Unhealthy Guys 2 avoids sequelitis by retaining what labored from the primary movie and including in simply sufficient new stuff to maintain issues attention-grabbing. With enjoyable characters, compelling design, and a narrative that goes in surprising instructions, the movie makes it straightforward to root for the unhealthy guys.
—
The Unhealthy Guys 2 is now enjoying in theaters.
