Review: 'Bad Guys 2,' breaks good

Universal Pictures, 2025.

"The Bad Guys" - based on the children's book series by Aaron Blabey - has quietly grown into one of the more beloved family franchises in recent years. The first film adaptation in 2022 grossed over 250 million dollars and proved to be a pleasant surprise for the studio. And while I wasn't a big fan (see my review of the first film at the link below), its success led to follow-up Holiday and Halloween specials on Netflix, so a theatrical sequel felt inevitable.

The good news? "The Bad Guys 2" isn't all bad. It's diverse cast of misfits have gone from mildly annoying to surprisingly fun to be around.

Grade: B

The voice cast and director return for the sequel, creating an entertaining heist flick that's both well-made and well-intentioned. This isn't the sort of film that's going to leave kids with meaningful life lessons, or necessarily even stick with them a few hours after the show. But it's clever and enjoyable enough...which is more than you can say about most recent family fare.

Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Shark (Craig Robinson), Tarantula (Awkwafina) and Snake (Marc Maron) are still on their journey to "go good." Ex-thief-turned-governor, Diane "Crimson Paw" Foxington (Zazie Beetz) and Police Chief Luggins (Alex Borstein) return from the first film and get involved in the latest shenanigans. New to the party are the "Bad Girls," led by Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), Susan (Natasha Lyonne) and Pigtail (Maria Bakalova). Meanwhile, the gang's old nemesis, Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), still manages to stir up trouble, despite being locked up in a Hannibal Lector-style cell.

There's nothing groundbreaking here, but "The Bad Guys 2" is an improvement over the original, a fun time at the movies that leaves everyone feeling good. And that, my friends, ain't all that bad.

***Read review of the first "The Bad Guys" movie here *** 

Grade: B

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Family
Run Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
Rated: PG

Starring (voices of): Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Anthony Ramos, Craig Robinson, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beets, Alex Borstein, Lilly Singh, Maria Bakalova, Danielle Brooks.

Directed by JP Sans and Pierre Perifel ("The Bad Guys").

"The Bad Guys 2" is in theaters everywhere on Friday, August 1st, 2025.