We were invited to an early screening of this movie to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.
Back in December, Zac first saw the trailer for the new movie The Bad Guys. He had seen a book by that name at his school’s book fair, but hadn’t read any of the series yet. The trailer intrigued him so much that he decided to read the first The Bad Guys book by Aaron Blabey- and within a couple of weeks, he had read the entire 14 book series. So to say that we’ve been looking forward to this movie is a bit of an understatement.
About The Bad Guys Movie:
Nobody has ever failed so hard at trying to be good as The Bad Guys.
In the new action comedy from DreamWorks Animation, based on the New York Times best-selling book series, a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws are about to attempt their most challenging con yet—becoming model citizens.
Never have there been five friends as infamous as The Bad Guys—dashing pickpocket Mr. Wolf (Academy Award® winner Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), seen-it-all safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron, GLOW), chill master-of-disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson, Hot Tub Time Machine franchise), short-fused “muscle” Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) and sharp-tongued expert hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians), aka “Webs.”
But when, after years of countless heists and being the world’s most-wanted villains, the gang is finally caught, Mr. Wolf brokers a deal (that he has no intention of keeping) to save them all from prison: The Bad Guys will go good.
Under the tutelage of their mentor Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade, Paddington 2), an arrogant (but adorable!) guinea pig, The Bad Guys set out to fool the world that they’ve been transformed. Along the way, though, Mr. Wolf begins to suspect that doing good for real may give him what he’s always secretly longed for: acceptance. So when a new villain threatens the city, can Mr. Wolf persuade the rest of the gang to become … The Good Guys?
The Bad Guys Books Vs. Movies- What’s the Same?
Like I mentioned before, this movie is based on the children’s book series of the same name. There are 14 books in the series so far and they follow mostly the same characters, including the Bad Guys squad consisting of Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Mr. Piranha and Ms. Tarantula aka Webs in the movie {Mr. Tarantula or Legs in the books}. Marmalade is another major character from the books that finds his way into the movie, but with a lot of changes to his storyline. There are new characters in the movie, like Diane Foxington, who plays a pretty big part in the movie.
I haven’t read every book yet, only my son has, but I read the first few with him and saw a lot of overlap in the storylines between the books and the movie- but in every instance, the movie had done it’s own version. The books are graphic novels, so they are relatively short and quick- so it takes a few books put together to make a story long enough for a movie. Without spoiling the movie, I will say that the things I saw that were pulled from the pages were all done in a way that worked well on screen.
Is The Bad Guys Good?
The Bad Guys movie was seriously SO good. My entire family absolutely loved it- including my husband, my 8 year old superfan and even my hard to impress teenager. My husband even said it was the best family movie we have seen in a long time, and I would have to agree.
It’s hard to say exactly what about the movie makes it so good, but I think overall it just works. It makes you feel good the whole time you’re watching it, between the humor and the characters and the friendships. It of course has some conflicts {it’d be a pretty boring movie without it} but they’re resolved in a satisfying way, and it had just enough twists to be interesting without being confusing for the kids in the audience.
I didn’t feel like anything in the movie was inappropriate {although there are definitely a couple of unmissable butt and gas jokes, which I have no problem with, but head’s up if you don’t like those} and thought the movie- like the books, actually- did a great job of being something made for kids, but that grown-ups are just as happy to enjoy as well.
Now we’re just hoping that this becomes a series like the books- we’re all ready for some more of The Bad {Good?} Guys!
The Bad Guys Activity Pages
Want to keep the adventure going? Download this free printable activity book for The Bad Guys movie! Click here to download.
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