The Bad Guys 2

Last weekend, somehow, sometime, I managed to squeeze in a viewing of the DreamWorks Animation film, The Bad Guys 2, because it was either that or The Naked Gun and, well, I flipped a mental coin. I liked(ish) the first movie, and had read one or two of Aaron Blabey's kid-sized books on which this series is loosely based, and so there I was. And it was OK.

The movie features a wolf, a shark, a piranha, a tarantula and a snake who are trying to go on the straight and narrow after a career in crime, but not doing particularly well. The wolf wants to prove himself to a foxy fox, who happens to be both the governor and a crook-gone-straight herself, but these guys can't catch a break. Then they get framed for the heist of a Lucha libre championship belt and are basically blackmailed into joining a nefarious plot by an all-female criminal gang to steal, um, a space shuttle and then, um ... It's an animated movie, so I could say anything at this point and you'd have to believe me, but I don't want to say it because then there wouldn't be anything left for you to find out if you decide to watch this completely OK, not great, sometimes funny and often exciting animated adventure.

I do have a reservation about this movie before I get to the bit about scenes that made it for me. In the middle of the movie, I grew a little concerned by the sense that the storyline and character dialogue were making a persuasive case for choosing robbery and theft as a path to self-empowerment. And I guess I should mention the voice cast here, which includes Sam Rockwell, Craig Robinson (The Masked Dancer, The Office), Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Renfield), Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Family Guy), Zazie Beetz (Atlanta, Invincible), Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black, The Color Purple), Natasha Lyonne (Orange Is the New Black, Poker Face) and Maria Bakalova (who played Ivana Trump in The Apprentice).

So, here are the Three Scenes That Made It For Me: (1) Mr. Snake realizes that his girlfriend has betrayed him ... and is completely turned on. This joke actually came around for a second try and got a laugh both times. (2) Diane, the fox, goes to visit Prof. Marmalade, the guinea pig villain from the first movie (voiced by British comic Richard Ayoade), in a scene cleverly patterned on Clarice Starling's initial encounter with Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs ... up until he challenges her to a game. (3) Snake is trapped in a space suit with piranha, who becomes hideously flatulent when nervous ... and that suggests a hilarious form of propulsion when the pair get separated from their spacecraft.