#also usually wolves are depicted as gray/white so points for that

[dellinah]

A random (and spoiler free) review of The Bad Guys (2022)

(By a South American that got to see it early)

Living in this hellhole apparently has a few positive sides to it, and one of them is that we get furry movies sooner (as the same happened with Zootopia, for some reason)

And since The bad guys came out today around here, of course I dropped everything to go check it out. Bc who cares about the things I need to do when there's a new furry movie in town. Heck yeah

So...

It's pretty fun, actually. I enjoyed it a lot. More than I thought I would. 7/10.

Keep in mind I might be biased (as is everyone) bc not only it's a furry movie (and I am a shameless furry) but I am also a major Dreamworks fan. Dreamworks movies shaped my childhood even more so than Disney, and I have the fondest memories with a lot of them. So a part of me already liked the movie before watching it, bc it'd been a while since we got a Dreamworks original, and the last time I was actually excited over a release from them was How to train your dragon 3 a few years ago. So yeah, just knowing that this was a Dreamworks original that seemed good and had potential got me hyped!

The thing about Dreamworks that makes them great to me is how they will grab seemingly silly concepts and do them with heart. Kung Fu Panda (esp 1 and 2) and HTTYD (1-3) are comedy movies with crazy premises that end up having incredible characters and story arcs in the end. Same with Shrek. And I love that. I love how a movie about a panda played by Jack Black can be so mature, I love how a boy and a dragon can have such a beautiful relationship, how an ugly ogre can end up being a great tale of true love, how puss in boots suddenly has a mom he doesnt want to let down. That's what they do best, and I love them for it

So where does The Bad Guys fall in that concept and how does it hold up against Dreamworks' greatests?

Well, let me start by what they did right:

THEY DIDN'T TELL EVERYTHING IN THE TRAILERS!!

I think everyone who has seen the trailers has an idea of what the plot is going to be like. But unlike most of the trailers for movies today, TBG's trailers actually don't show all of the story and a great part of it was kept a surprise. So whatever the story you thought of is, let me tell you: there's a bit more to it and it's not played as straight forward as I thought it would. There's a few twists that I didn't see coming and I didn't always know where it was going. It's still somewhat predictable, but you'll be surprised more often than not. That was SUCH a relief

Another thing:

They get the obvious twists out of the way fast

The writers knew which parts of the story would be the most predictable and instead of pretending not to know and treat their audience like dumbasses, it was pretty self aware of its sillyness. So anything too predictable happened in the beginning, or as soon as possible, instead or them waiting till the third act for the obvious twist like nobody had seen it coming. I applaud them for that, honestly. I dont think a story being a bit predictable is bad, but acting like it's a super secret major twist instead is pretty annoying and condescending. So congradz on that

Its fast pace and the animation

Not much to say, it's really good. The animation is cartoony, they move in a very fun way, not always realistic but never being uncanny either. I LOVE the animation, the fur texture, the EXPRESSIONS. The movie is so expressive. Yet they know the scenes that need a slower, quieter tone. Which is good, because...

The movie actually has a few heartfelt scenes that I really liked

Now, this is not HTTYD or Kung Fu Panda levels of heartfelt. But there are a few scenes and concepts that work really well and are really nicely done. Sometimes it's just a character sitting down in silence, and I like that. I like that they don't try to be overdramatic and just let quiet moments be quiet

And... *sigh*. My friends are gonna call me out for this, but I SWEAR I dont mean it only in a furry way. But:

The wolf is easily the best part of the movie, and that is both good and bad (like him)

Mr. Wolf is a fun character. He's layered and he has internal conflicts, and has a personality that works with the other characters. He is the main character of the movie, and you can tell people put a lot of love and care into him and building him up throughout the movie. Honestly, I love him a lot

Unfortunately, this gets me to what I didn't like about the movie

Many of the main characters don't really feel like they got much of a personality other than being Mr Wolf's friends. Especially where conflict was involved, I get the feeling that a lot of what they did was more "we're doing this bc the plot demands we do it" instead of "we're doing this bc we have reflected on it and this is how we feel"

Following that pattern, a few of the themes the movie brings up are a bit surface level as well. While having a solid storyline and pacing, it feels like it never goes deep into the smaller conflicts and concepts it brings up. It's like a more surface level Zootopia. I think it does lack little touches in dialog/world building that would give it that special Dreamworks touch. So while still being a silly premise with a bit of a deeper meaning like Kung Fu Panda, I think it fails to analyze the complexity of some of the things it brings up so that it could explore it fully. Such as the whole "I'm a big bad wolf, and that's all everyone will ever see me as" from the trailer. I wish it was a bit more explored, but for what it was, it still got into it well enough. It's a bit difficult to explain without spoiling it all, but yeah. I feel like it could have gone deeper than it did, but it's not flat either. Somewhere in between

Overall, it's a very fun movie with a solid storyline and small conflicts that I think have a great lesson behind them. While I wish it did a bit more than what it did and it didn't explore the premise as well as other Dreamwork movies did, it's still heartfelt. I enjoyed it a ton, and I will watch it again for sure. Not sure how useful this was, but I have thoughts and will share them

One last thing, THE MOVIE ADDS LITTLE ANIMAL TOUCHES TO THE CHARACTERS AND I LOVE THAT. Growling, tail wagging, ear scratching, molting, etc. Any anthro media that does that has points with me, bc I love it. So yes, shameless bias, shameless furry, I love wolf tails and teeth.