The Bad Guys 2 Review: Dreamworks's most underwhelming sequel

Spoilers ahead for The Bad Guys 2!

The original film was a pleasant surprise for me, so I was pretty excited to check out this sequel. And, as I spoiled in the title, it didn't work nearly as well for me as the original. In today's review, I, Brighton Nelson of The Reel Ranker, will explain the pros and cons of The Bad Guys 2.

I'm going to approach this review from the angle of comparing this film to the last. First off, the action was certainly better than the first film. The opening sequence was a nice work-of-art flashback, and the rocket-ship sequence was pretty cool and leaned into the absurdity that only animation can offer. I also enjoyed how the film leaned a little bit more into romance... that might have been my favorite upgrade in this film because I'm a sappy son of a gun.

Two other things I enjoyed were: 1) the Commissioner got more of a starring status here, which is fantastic since she's one of the most interesting characters in the franchise, and 2) since it isn't an origin story, we can jump right into the action. Then again, the origin story is the best part of the last film, so that's more of a mixed aspect, but it's always a notable aspect that sequels present.

The Bad Guys 2 improves on the action and romance but feels like an unnecessary epilogue rather than a meaningful expansion of the story.

Now it's time for the negatives.

One more minor problem before I get into the crux of why I didn't love this film. The Bad Guys 2 simply wasn't nearly as funny or charming as the original, in my opinion. While some of the jokes absolutely landed (for example, the wedding sequence), many of them leaned too far into the low-hanging fruit category. I know this is primarily for kids, but this film felt less witty than the last in many regards.

Anyway, my main problem with this film is that the plot feels like an unnecessary, derivative epilogue for these characters rather than a gripping story that expands the narrative. In The Bad Guys 2, the plot is just "look, the good guys have to be bad so we hate them again" to "oh, right, they decided to be good for a reason." The idea of "one last job" isn't horrible, but I think I'd be almost just as satisfied if The Bad Guys 3 was The Bad Guys 2 (if they just kept what's-her-face the mayor, and instated them as secret agents, that would've worked just fine, honestly). This may just be more of a criticism of the book series' plot, but, regardless, it didn't hook me too much.

This final point is the main reason why I just wasn't too invested in this film. It just felt like a pretty blah sequel that didn't have much to say, which is quite sad, given that Dreamworks has pumped out some very memorable and interesting sequels. Think about how much depth Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3 added to Poe's character, or the brilliant worldbuilding and character-building that the How to Train Your Dragon sequels add. I'm glad we got to revisit this world and these characters once more, but I just wish there was more heart and soul to the whole affair, like there was in the first.

The Reel Ranker Verdict

Reel or Unreel? - Unreel
The Reel Ranker Score: 53%
Letter Score: C-
Star Ranking: 2.5 out of 5

This movie was an almost passable sequel to the original film, with some parts being a decent bit better, but most of the elements being noticeably worse. Overall, I don't hate this film, and I see why people like it if I think in a more superficial perspective. Still, I really just didn't find that this added enough to the first for me to recommend it to anybody but younger kids and mega-fans of the original.

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