Review: 'The Bad Guys 2' is as sharp and funny as the first one, on levels kids and adults will both enjoy

The animated heist thriller “The Bad Guys” was one of the happier surprises of 2022, a successful cross between “Ocean’s 11” and “Zootopia” — and it’s equally surprising that the sequel, “The Bad Guys 2,” is equally smart and funny.

The whole gang is back together, both in the story and in the voice booth — team leader The Big Bad Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell), safe-cracker Snake (voiced by Marc Maron), disguise expert Shark (voiced by Craig Robinson), ace hacker Tarantula (voiced by Awkwafina) and live-wire Piranha (voiced by Anthony Ramos). 

The intro shows them when they were still bad, on a job stealing from a billionaire in Cairo, before bringing them back their current lives, after they went to the good side in the last movie. Being law-abiding isn’t always great, as they’re rejected at job interviews because they’re not trusted. (At one point, Wolf interviews with a bank manager who reminds him that he robbed that bank three times.)

Wolf still has a friend in Gov. Diane Foxington (voiced by Zazie Beetz), who has given up her criminal alter ego, the Crimson Paw. And the gang even tries to help the police commissioner (voiced by Alex Borstein), to capture a new criminal, The Phantom Bandit, if only to prove it’s not them.

The Phantom Bandit turns out to be Kitty Kat (voiced by Danielle Brooks), who has two accomplices but needs the Bad Guys to help pull off a heist involving a tech billionaire (voiced by Colin Jost) who’s planning a rocket launch and a lavish wedding. (Where do screenwriters Yoni Brenner and Etan Cohen get their outlandish ideas?)

The writers, along with director Pierre Perifel (who also directed the first one) and co-director JP Sans, concoct a heist movie that’s cleverly twisty, and loaded with sharp references. Diane has a reunion with the first movie’s villain, Dr. Rupert Marmalade (voiced by Richard Ayoade), that is staged like Clarice Starling’s first prison meeting with Hannibal Lecter. Also, the mystery metal Kitty Kat wants to steal is called MacGuffinite. (If you know, you know.)

Happily, “The Bad Guys 2” knows how to work both sides of the line, entertaining the kids with bold, colorful humor (including, yes, an extended fart joke) while playing it smart for the grown-ups. And it sets up something interesting if they ever decide to make “The Bad Guys 3” — which, given the franchise’s track record, I hope they do.

——

‘The Bad Guys 2’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, August 1, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG for action/mild violence, rude humor and language. Running time: 104 minutes.