Parents will appreciate this sequel’s positive messages about working hard to do good rather than taking the easy way out. Still, some light suggestive banter and an unfortunate use of mild profanity means The Bad Guys 2 is not as good as it could have been.
Sure, being bad came with cooler, stolen cars. But being good is far more satisfying.
That’s the lesson Wolf, Snake, Shark, Piranha and Tarantula took to heart when they left their life of crime behind in 2022’s The Bad Guys. Realizing that they wanted to go good, these reform-minded former criminals turned themselves in, served some time in jail and left with visions of a bright, good future in their eyes.
But telling the public you’re going good is one thing. Getting them to believe it is another. It turns out that the bank you robbed three times isn’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to hire you.
That’s why Wolf’s romantic interest, Gov. Diane Foxington, encourages them to figure out ways they can show the public they’ve become good. And Wolf knows just where to start.
The city’s been plagued by a string of thefts orchestrated by someone known only as the “Phantom Bandit.” And Wolf’s pretty sure he and his team could use their old thieving skills to figure out where the villain’s next hit will be.
And so they do. But in an unfortunate turn of events, the Phantom Bandit (actually made up of a group of three criminals) pins the theft on them, causing both the public and police alike to turn on them. And so the newly reinstituted Bad Guys are on the run once more.
But then that trio of bandits commissions the Bad Guys for one last heist. And if Wolf and his comrades don’t help them, they’ll expose Gov. Diane’s life-ruining secret: that long ago she’d been a master thief herself.
Begrudgingly, Wolf and gang dust off their skills and agree to help.
Besides, there’s one skill Wolf never lost: He’s always got a plan.
In the first movie, this group of animals struggled with feeling typecast as villains simply because it was what society expected of them. Throughout that film, they slowly realized that they didn’t have to be bad. But in The Bad Guys 2, they face another problem: whether society will accept that change in their identity.
Each member truly has gone good, but the citizens aren’t quick to forget all the years of crime the gang wreaked upon them. Perhaps not surprisingly, those with long memories aren’t entirely convinced their reformed “good guy” act isn’t just another clever ruse. So when another group engages in a crime spree, people naturally wonder if the Bad Guys might be involved. “How are we supposed to get a fresh start when we get blamed for every bad thing that happens?” Tarantula complains.
But Diane tells Wolf not to lose hope, explaining that it’s hard for others to recognize a heart change without actions to prove it. “People do want to trust you; you just have to give them a reason,” she says.
Phantom Bandit leader Kitty pushes the issue when she asks Wolf why he bothers being good if no one cares about it. In her eyes, committing crimes is better, since they force people to respect the power she has over them. But Wolf eventually finds his answer: bad deeds don’t instill respect, only fear. And even if being good is harder than being bad, he’d rather put in the work to earn respect than generate fear. That mentality eventually coaxes the former criminals’ critics to rally behind him.
Diane risks her reputation to help Wolf and his crew. And another woman, upon realizing the Bad Guys’ innocence, relinquishes her pride and decides to help them take down the true perpetrators.
Snake embraces something of a laid-back hippie lifestyle as he spends time with his girlfriend, drinking health smoothies and attending yoga classes. When Wolf reaches Snake’s voicemail, he hears the Hindu greeting “Namaste!” His life change is so strange that someone asks if he’s been possessed.
During a hectic car chase, Piranha pulls out a cross necklace, repeatedly crosses himself and begins praying. A luchador yells that he’s got the “face of an angel, punch of a diablo.” Shark impersonates a priest to officiate a wedding.
Snake and Doom (a raven) have a romantic relationship, and the two often flirt with each other, much to the discomfort of the rest of their crew. “I know you don’t like to share, unless it’s kisses,” Doom teases. At one point, they recall their first kiss, and the memory entices them to kiss in the present, which functionally puts Doom’s head halfway into Snake’s mouth as he quite literally sucks on her face. “Anyway, that’s nothing compared to our first date,” Snake says, intending to explain before he’s interrupted.
In another moment, Snake explains, “Lockpicking is like romance: you gotta start gentle, playful, work your way into its little cold heart until all those defenses melt away,” causing Piranha to ask if they’re still actually talking about the lock. And later, Snake and Doom joke about not being attracted to each other, staring into each other’s eyes as they comment that “otherwise this marshmallow toast would be full of romantic tension.” When Snake realizes Doom tricked him, he becomes more attracted to her, calling her “hot” for “out-snaking” him.
Likewise, Wolf and Diane (a fox) struggle to maintain a professional relationship. They flirt with each other, but they think it is best to stay friends, since the world sees Diane as the governor and Wolf as an ex-con. Still, they do share a kiss later.
A bride and groom kiss at their wedding. There’s a nude marble statue of a man, though we can’t see anything from the angle. When Wolf starts a car, causing its engine to roar, He jokes that it “say[s] the naughtiest things.” A man asks Wolf if he knows him from “naked high diving.”
Shark steals a man’s clothes for a disguise, leaving the man in an undershirt and boxers. Wolf also wears only boxers at one point. Wolf briefly dresses up in a wedding veil and dress to get close to the groom, whom he plans to rob. Tight-costumed luchadores fight. A guinea pig flexes his pecs to show how much muscle he’s gained.
Violence here is mostly of the slapstick variety, with characters flying across the screen and smashing into things apparently no worse for wear. Still, some attacks leave characters unconscious. Other combatants lose a tooth or two. Wolf gets an unfortunate black eye. And a villainous character briefly chokes two others before they escape.
Someone pulls pieces of stuck cactus out of her skin. Snake and Doom both salivate over the thought of eating a kid’s pet guinea pig. In a panic, Shark accidentally kicks a human priest through a window. And Doom likes to throw knives, though none of them ever hurt anyone. Luchadores fight, tossing each other around the ring.
Elsewhere, characters occasionally express violent thoughts: “Snitches get stitches and sleep with the fishes,” quips Tarantula. “Tear him apart, limb from limb, until all he can remember is pain,” screams Piranha.
We hear one use of “jacka–,” yelled near the start of the film by an angry driver stuck behind Wolf’s beater car.
Otherwise, we hear occasional stand ins for other profanities, such as, “Holy shrimp!” “What the hairbrush!” and “What the thorax!” When discovering someone’s lie, Shark yells out, “Vinyasa, my butt!”
“I Like It” by Cardi B and “Black Rose” by Coi Leray can be heard in the background. Both songs contain profanity normally, though such words are scrubbed from the lyrics when used in the film, replaced with noticeable silence instead.
Some hold glasses of champagne at a wedding. Characters get knocked out by tranquilizer darts and drugged mints.
A woman admits she “almost make pee pee accident,” prompting Piranha to tacitly admit that he went beyond an almost. Piranha passes gas when he’s nervous—a gag that causes others to gag. “I can taste it!” cries Snake. At one point, Piranha uses stored-up flatulence to propel himself toward an objective.
One luchador sucks on an oversized pacifier. Snake carries his possessions inside his stomach; at one point, he vomits an object up to use it.
In the first movie, The Bad Guys grappled with the question of whether someone can change who they are, especially when it’s reinforced by society. That movie answered with an unequivocal yes.
This sequel, meanwhile, asks a slightly different question: what if you have changed for the better, but people haven’t yet accepted it?
That’s the problem facing Wolf and his gang as they’re forced back into orchestrating one final heist to help save a friend’s reputation. It’s a question that Kitty answers much the same way Wolf may have in the previous film: “If no one will respect you for your good deeds, force them to respect you through bad ones.”
Wolf, and The Bad Guys 2, offers a more positive response: People don’t respect bad actions; they merely fear them. And if Wolf wants to be respected for his good deeds, he’ll need to put in the work to earn it.
But while those positive messages are here, I don’t think they’re quite as strong as they were in the original film, nor are they as present. Like The Bad Guys, viewers get pulled into the big heist, which doesn’t really invite much discussion about the nature of doing good things. While that’s a bit unfortunate, the comedy, plot and characters stay just as enjoyable as they did in the original film.
Speaking about some bad things, The Bad Guys 2 comes with a couple of issues that may raise the movie’s age-appropriateness bar a bit for some families. Most notably, the movie engages in intimate banter that some families may find a little crass for their youngest children. A singular use of “jacka–” likewise finds its way into the franchise. And we’ve got some casual allusions to Eastern spirituality to navigate as well.
Those unfortunate additions don’t ultimately ruin the movie, but they are nevertheless issues that parents will need to consider before they allow The Bad Guys 2 to steal their hearts.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
