Selfless Friendship, the Price of Fame, and Seeking Deep Connections: A Faith- Based Look at 'Ron's Gone Wrong.'

 Hello, dear readers, and welcome to another edition of the Nightcrawler Experience!
This is the fourth entry in my blog's annual partnership with St. John's United Methodist Church for their Summer at the Movies series. For this entry, we will be looking at the 2021 animated film 'Ron's Gone Wrong.'

(Credit for this image goes to the user Bszabo15 on the Disney wiki at https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Ron%27s_Gone_Wrong?file=Ron%2527s_Gone_Wrong_official_poster.jpg)

In this movie, tech corporation Bubble Tech has unveiled its masterpiece: "The B- Bot," a small cylindrical robot buddy that can interact with its owners in an amazing variety of ways, and help them connect with and befriend other humans by syncing together with THEIR B-Bots to see what they have in common. It almost instantly proves a smash hit, as practically everyone gets a B- Bot in a short period and relies on them for just about everything.
Everyone, that is, except a middle- school boy named Barney Pudowski (Voice of Jack Dylan Grazer, who played young Eddie Kaspbrak in the recent 'It' movies). He has no friends whatsoever (In fact, a former friend of his named Rich now routinely bullies and humiliates him for a prank- centered Youtube channel), an odd family consisting of his widowed father who struggles to get his novelty- item business off the ground and an eccentric Bulgarian grandma and a number of farm animals, and they cannot afford a B- Bot for him, which further isolates him from his peers as literally everyone else at his school has one.
Miraculously, on Barney's birthday, his father manages to acquire a B- Bot that was discarded as it fell out of the delivery truck and was damaged.

Barney's initial joy at this is greatly hindered, though, as the damage this B- Bot (Voice of Zach Galifianakis) suffered caused it to be severely defective in a number of ways. It constantly glitches, and makes multiple mistakes, including the fact that its disabled safety functions cause it to fight back against an annoying bully AND a cop! Nevertheless, Barney grows to like the weird little fellow, names him "Ron," and sets out to teach Ron how to be his best friend.
However, Ron's glitchy behavior soon attracts the attention of the Bubble Tech higher- ups, including a scheming COO who bears a MAJOR resemblance to Steve Jobs, feel like it could harm the company's publicity and set out to find and destroy Ron. Barney runs away into the woods with Ron to try and avoid this, many other major developments occur, and everyone learns a lesson on what true friendship can look like.

One of the only problems I have with 'Ron's Gone Wrong' is with the bully Rich, as while he redeems himself by the end of the movie, it feels a little rushed. There are no real moments of him feeling remorse for his awful past actions, apologizing to Barney and the others he's wronged, or anything like that. I mean, it's always great to see in a movie when a jerk manages to come around, but they need to show what led to him doing this and him acknowledging that his past actions were wrong.

In spite of this, 'Ron's Gone Wrong' is a real underrated animated gem. I think it really deserves to get more attention than it ended up getting.

The humor is pretty constant in it, most of the characters are believable and likable, and there are some real moments of poignance scattered through it. The friendship that Barney eventually develops with Ron really is quite nice to see.

It also has some good social commentary relating to social media, and how, while it can be used for good and help people to better connect with each other, it also can cause them to isolate themselves from each other a lot (i.e. We learn that Barney used to have a nice group of friends, but them getting B- Bots caused all of them to distance themselves from him as this new gizmo caused them to be more concerned with things like online gaming and internet fame than in- person friendship). I know that this seems like a similar message to the one for the movie I looked at in the previous entry on this blog, 'The Mitchells vs. the Machines,' but there's a big difference: 'Mitchells' focused on our society's addiction to technology in general with social media being only a small part of that, whereas 'Ron's Gone Wrong' seems to specifically focus on social media's effect on our society.

Now, for the character run- down. Barney is quite well- developed as a main character. He's easy to relate to with his loneliness, his initial struggles with being picked on and with how much he and the rest of his family clearly miss his late mother, and desperately wanting to make friends. He can at times be selfish and struggle to put others first, but he grows a lot and eventually does learn that, ad becomes a better and more sociable kid in the process.

Barney's father Graham is shown to be quite a kind, loving man who does all he can to help his family. There are times when he doesn't have quite enough time to be there for his son due to his work and trying to find buyers/ investors for his novelty items, but considering that he seems to be pretty much the sole family breadwinner and the only thing keeping a roof over his family's heads, that's forgivable.

Barney's grandma Donka is, quite frankly, AWESOME! She is so funny and crazy (Both in a typical "Kooky grandma" way, and in the quirks she has as a Bulgarian immigrant and ardent anti- Communist), yet it's clear that she immensely loves her son and grandson. She spends all day cooking and baking for Barney's birthday party, even though no one comes, and uses her own "Funeral money" to help buy Ron simply because she knows it will make her grandson happy and help him to make friends. Definitely one of the best fictional grandparents I can recall seeing in a movie.

Ron's assorted acquaintances/ former friends are all a pretty interesting group, each with their own quirks and hangups. Mostly seem like a nice group other than Rich, and even he gets better by the end.
The company's well- meaning CEO, Marc Wydell, is pretty likable, too. While he wants his company to succeed, he's humble and good natured (Unlike the Steve Jobs- esque CEO), and is fascinated at what Ron can do, and how it could potentially help everyone.

However, the most prominent and memorable character in 'Ron's Gone Wrong' is definitely Ron himself. He is insanely funny in pretty much every scene he is in due to his glitchy nature, and also has a few moments of real poignance. In spite of his glitches, he is a fast learner of human behavior, and quickly learns to be a supportive and loyal friend to Barney. In fact, when I did my "Top 10 Favorite Movie Characters of 2021" list, Ron made an Honorable Mention on it. Just a delightful character all the way!

In general, 'Ron's Gone Wrong' is a nice film for the whole family to enjoy. It'll make them laugh, make them think, and maybe even make them cry.

There are a few Scriptural messages that I think can be taken from 'Ron's Gone Wrong.' The first, which I put on the devotional that was passed out at the screening, was on how true friends need to be selfless with each other, esteeming each other more than themselves, as Romans 12:10 says.

Another important message is on the fleeting and honestly undesirable nature of fame. A character in 'Ron's Gone Wrong' who demonstrates the downside of seeking and achieving fame is Barney's classmate, Savannah. She starts out as an aspiring vlogger who records and posts online pretty much everything in her life. However, an incident involving a bunch of malfunctioning B-Bots leads to her being horrifically humiliated on video that soon streams and trends worldwide, and causing Savannah to be branded with a grotesque new nickname that I won't mention here. She gains the sort of global fame and attention that she had always sought, but for all the wrong reasons and in a VERY negative way that makes her life miserable. Even in this sense, though, she learns her lesson and becomes a wiser person for it. In the very end of the movie, when Rich asks to be allowed to livestream the amazing details of everything Barney did in the movie, Savannah interjects, "Take it from me, Rich: Fame is overrated."
Savannah's observation is very much a Biblical concept. Proverbs 25:27 observes that "It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory." Seeking to constantly elevate yourself is not a pleasant way to live, any fame which may come from it usually doesn't last long, and often does not end well, as Savannah learns the hard way. We should instead strive to humble ourselves, and seek out the Lord God, the One who is truly worthy of fame and admiration.

Another Scriptural lesson to be taken from 'Ron's Gone Wrong' concerns the need for people to be united together, not isolated. Early in the movie, before Barney's family acquires Ron, there is a brief but telling exchange when Barney's dad asks, "You need a B- Bot to have a social life?" Barney responds, "Yeah, Dad, kind of." Sadly, far too many people hold to views similar to this with their phones and computers. There is also an important scene near the end when Barney sees through recorded B- Bot footage of Savannah, Rich, and his other former friends that while they each seem happy and fulfilled outwardly in their own ways, in reality each of them is incredibly lonely, insecure, and desperate for real companionship and affirmation. This proves to be a real epiphany for Barney, and so he finds a way to arrange for all of them and himself to sort of rediscover each other and become again the close- knit, supportive group of friends that they used to be. As Psalms 133:1 puts it, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!" Ron and his group eventually discover this firsthand, and so too can all of us if we reach out to each other for direct connections. Over- reliance on social media is causing us to not develop as many lasting friendships with in- person people. We all need that kind of in- person connection with others.

In summary, 'Ron's Gone Wrong' is a wonderful little film that helps us see what true friendship can look like, the price of seeking temporary fame, and the importance of reaching out personally with fellow children of God whenever possible. There's nothing glitchy about any of those!

That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Come back next week for the concluding entry in the series (I initially thought there were only four films in the series, but there are actually five; WHOOPS!). Until then, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!

Flawed People Becoming Heroes, Avoiding Idol Worship, and Not Being Corrupted By the World: A Faith- Based Look at 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines.'

 Hello again, readers, and welcome to another edition of the Nightcrawler Experience!
For this, the third entry in this blog's annual partnership with St. John's United Methodist Church for their Summer at the Movies series, we had to do a VERY last- minute change; Initially, we were planning to look at the live- action musical 'In the Heights'; However, some people upon watching the movie in advance began to develop concerns that it may not be appropriate for screening in a church setting (Having never seen it myself, I cannot comment, though its PG- 13 rating did raise a red flag for me in that regard), so we decided to select an alternative movie instead; The 2021 animated film 'The Mitchells Vs. The Machines'!

(Credit for this image goes to the user Omoniyi.ade0614 on the Sony Pictures Animation wiki at https://sonypicturesanimation.fandom.com/wiki/The_Mitchells_vs._the_Machines?file=The_Mitchells_vs._The_Machines_poster.jpg)

The movie centers around teenage Katie Mitchell and her family; Father Rick, mother Linda, dinosaur- loving younger brother Aaron, and borderline- brainless dog Monchi. They are all eccentric and quirky in their own ways, but clearly love each other deep down. However, Katie and Rick are becoming estranged from each other. Katie is an aspiring filmmaker who makes goofy Youtube videos to try and basically hone her skills, while her father is more of an outdoorsman and handyman, and neither of the two of them is particularly interested in the other’s pursuits. Linda and Aaron each try to keep things calm and happy as best they can, but without much results.
When Katie is accepted to film school in California, she looks forward to being able to get out on her own and get better at doing what she loves, but her father is more hesitant. The night before Katie is to leave for film school, the two have an argument that causes some serious regrets on both sides. Rick, fearing that this friction may cause him to lose his daughter forever, tries to atone for this the next day by telling Katie last- minute that they have cancelled her plane ticket to California and will instead be driving her there cross- country as a family to get in some more bonding time with her. Katie hates this decision, because she’d rather spend as much time as possible in California getting to know her new classmates, but she is forced to go along with it. The trip quickly proves to be a mixed bag with annoyances and hangups but also the occasional amusing moments.

Things take a, well, interesting and unexpected turn before too long. Tech CEO Mark Bowman unveils his company’s newest creation, PAL- Max, which is basically a cross between a smart phone and a robot butler. This prompts the company’s now- obsolete former AI, ‘PAL,’ to go rogue, hijack control of all the company’s machines and declare war on humanity (Don’t you just hate when that happens?), sending its swarms of PAL- Max robots to capture all humans on Earth and eventually shoot them all into space and create a new robot- populated world. The Mitchells manage to escape this, and learn that there is a special kill- code that can shut the robots down for good and thus save humanity. They opt to drive on a dangerous mission to do this, and in the process learn a lot more about each other and themselves.



An issue I have with ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines’ is with some of its animation style. Specifically, it frequently uses what the animators refer to as "Katie- Vision," with intentionally crude- looking 2-D hand- drawings and photos appearing over the screen and the 3-D animated characters and environments at times, I guess to kind of accentuate whatever Katie's thinking at the time (If you see the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about). I've seen other movies and shows do similar things at times, and to be honest, I’ve never really liked it very much. It's alright in small doses, but when used too heavily, it feels like an annoying distraction, and most of the time in this movie, that's exactly how it feels like. 

Also, I thought the main villain 'PAL' wasn't as effective as she could have been. I feel like the writers could have made her a little more sympathetic (i.e. Emphasizing the pain she clearly felt when Bowman, whom she saw as her best friend, callously rejected her in favor of these new robots), and having her spend nearly all of the movie housed within a little smart phone lessened how menacing she could have potentially been. maybe they could have had her spend some of the movie transferring her AI into a giant supercomputer monitor that would make her pixelated face look gigantic, or possibly into some of the other, more mobile devices that the company makes.


Other than that, 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines' was a hilarious and often heart- warming film that gets progressively better as it goes on.
It has LOADS of humor, and in a variety of forms. There's some slapstick, some funny word- play, social and pop- cultural satire (Including some that's really subtle, such as a Best Buy- esque electronics store chain called "Good- Get"), and lots of others. There were VERY few scenes in the movie that didn't get me laughing at least once.

There's also a good amount of emotional poignance to the movie. It becomes clear early on that the Mitchells really do love each other in spite of their flaws and their arguments. They just at times have trouble with really connecting with each other (A common problem among families), and even that they greatly lessen as a result of their adventure over the course of the movie.

Speaking of which, one thing I like about this movie is that, while there is conflict between Katie and her father Rick, it’s NOT a “One side is 100% right, the other is 100% wrong” type of deal, as it likely would be in a more lazily- written movie; They both have valid points, both have flaws, both need to overcome their own stubbornness and learn to listen to each other more, and both gain a lot more respect for each other over the course of their adventure.

The movie has some solid action scenes, too, including multiple car- chase scenes with the Mitchells trying to evade the rampaging robots. There is also an incredibly clever scene about hallway into the movie when the Mitchells go into a shopping mall to activate the kill- code, only to be assaulted by a wide variety of household appliances with PAL- tech chips in them that have come alive. How this is pulled off is really funny and fitting, such as dive- bombing drone toys, vending machines blasting soda cans at deadly velocities, and even killer Furbys (They manage the near- impossible task of being even scarier than real- life Furbys)! Basically, picture what would happen if some of your own household appliances were to come alive and try to kill you, how they'd go about it, and that's pretty much exactly how they portray it in this great scene.

The film does a great job satirizing how addicted to electronics, social media and the Internet the human race has become in recent years.
While movies that warn about the dangers of allowing science and technology to evolve faster than humans could control them are nothing new (i.e. '2001: A Space Odyssey,' 'The Terminator,' 'Jurassic Park,' 'Avengers: Age of Ultron,' etc.), this movie injects some novelty into it by taking this satirical approach and highlighting how addicted to gizmos and screens most humans are and how lost they could feel if those devices went away, or worse, became sentient enough to turn against them. For instance, one of the first things that ‘PAL’ does in her war on the human race is briefly shut off all wi-fi worldwide, which immediately causes global rioting and insanity.
We also see it through the often- unhealthy effect it has on most of the Mitchells. While Rick is a man who could stand to get with the times a little more, he actually does have a valid point that Katie and the others in the family are all becoming too addicted to smart phones and screens. Before the robot apocalypse begins, we see Katie and Aaron keeping their eyes glued to their phones at least 80% of the time, shielding them from at times actually SEEING the world around them with their own eyes, and Linda's constant scrolling of social media causing her to unfavorably compare her own family to their annoyingly perfect- in- every- way neighbors, the Poseys.
In other words, 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines' showcases nearly all the different ways that relying too much on technology, especially phones and computers, can be bad for people, and this is without even having the evil robots kidnapping people enter the equation yet!

Now, on to the character run- down. Katie is an interesting main protagonist, quirky and hyper yet struggling with inner feelings of insecurity and desperate to get better at what she loves and start living her own life. She's not perfect, she panics and loses her temper at times, yet her resourcefulness and tech- knowledge greatly help her and her family to save the day.

The father Rick is a character who, in the hands of lazier writers, could have been disastrous and predictable. Often in modern media, especially aimed at kids, "Dad" characters are portrayed as either dumb, useless oafs to be laughed at or unsympathetic stifling jerks to be hated. Rick could have easily become either of those stereotypes, yet the writers avoided that with him. While Rick doesn't always make the right choices on things, and clashes with Katie at times concerning her plans to go to film school, we see that he has plenty of uses, as well, and he just was afraid of Katie failing and feeling the sort of loss in that respect that he has felt over things. Rick’s survivalist skills often really come in handy against the machines, especially during the previously- mentioned scene in the mall. We also eventually learn that he sacrificed a LOT for the sake of his family, putting his personal life dreams aside to help his children have a better life. Around two- thirds of the way into the movie, we see a family home- movie involving him which had me at the brink of tears as it explained so much and did it so well. It honestly caused me to gain even more respect for my own father; We don’t see eye- to- eye on everything, but he too is a good, decent, Godly man who has given up a lot for his family, and I’m glad to still have a pretty solid relationship with him.

Linda is largely just a typical "Mom" character, supportive and helpful, a bit of a worrier, and not afraid to speak the truth in love. A scene in the climax in which we see her reaction to her family being in mortal danger had me laughing and cheering so hard!

The younger brother Aaron is okay. He can't get enough of dinosaurs, is nervous around girls, and a wonderful trait about him is we quickly see how much he loves his sister and that he sees her as his best friend, and thus he is very torn about the thought of her going away to film school. He supports her in it, but is clearly sad at the thought of not having her around anymore. That felt authentic.

The dog Monchi provides for some good laughs even as you wonder if it has a single functional brain cell in its head. A pair of malfunctioning robots who end up becoming allies to the Mitchells provide some good comic relief, as well.

The animation mostly looks pretty good when it isn't overly relying on that "Katie- Vision" I mentioned earlier. Everything's pretty detailed and there's clear effort to it.

In general, 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines' is another great film for the family to watch together, laugh at together, and talk about after, both concerning their reliance on tech and screens and concerning each other.

Now, to run down some Scriptural lessons that can be taken from 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines.' The first, from the devotional I made that was passed out prior to the screening, is relating to God using flawed people to do His will. We see the Mitchells, strange and flawed though they all are, managing to stop 'PAL''s evil plan and save the world. This ties into how God often uses flawed, imperfect people in the Bible such as Abraham, David, and Peter to do His will and build His Kingdom on Earth, and how He can similarly use us in spite of all our imperfections to do great things if we trust in Him.

Another faith- based message found in the movie relates to the movie's critique of humanity's current addictions to technology and social media. This can apply to our walk with God in a couple ways. The first is through considering the first of the Ten Commandments, seen in Exodus 20:3: "You shall have no other gods before Me." The fact is, for many in our modern world, our phones and laptops have become like idols, false gods, to us. They are the things that many people center their entire existences around. It's particularly shown in the movie through the scene I mentioned, in which 'PAL' at one point temporarily shuts off the world's wi-fi, and there's widespread madness and anarchy worldwide as a result. If such a thing were to happen in real life, I honestly don't think the results would be much different. It's what happens when a society worships something else rather than God. If we looked at and followed our Bibles half as often as we looked at our phones, this world could become a much better, holier place.
The next point is through considering that we are not to be too enslaved to the world and its ways. Humanity's present addictions to technology and social media are, I'd say, the perfect picture of what enslavement to the world looks like. Much of it is centered around people showing off their bodies, their outer beauty, and their possessions in order to gain the approval and admiration of other people, without any regard for the Lord. All of those things (Outer appearance, possessions, worldly approval) are temporary and fleeting, while what the Lord offers lasts for eternity. The Bible is filled with warnings for believers to not get so swept up in worldly things that they neglect their walk with God. 1 John 2:15-17 says "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." Also, one of my favorite Bible verses, Romans 12:2, says "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed through the renewing of your mind." While enjoying technology and social media are okay, and can at times be used for Godly purposes (i.e. What I do with this blog), we must not conform to the worldly pattern of shallow screen addiction at the expense of spending time with the Lord God, who can renew our minds and help us live our lives to the fullest. We as Christians must rise above living how the rest of the world lives, and instead live how the Lord calls us to live, as He knows what's truly best for us and wants us to live our best lives.
I will soon be going on a vacation to my family's vacation home in Canada (My first time being there in three years), and one of the biggest lures up there is the wonderful scenic beauty and the chance to truly experience God's creation. There is some tech- stuff there, but I'll be spending most of the time hiking, kayaking, rock- climbing, enjoying the company of loved ones, and communing with the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, there we have 'The Mitchells vs. The Machines,' a very nice family movie that teaches even nicer messages on how even the most flawed of us can do great things, how we shouldn't let our technology or our social media accounts become our gods, and how we should rise above the fleeting ways of this world and seek the happiness and fulfillment that can only come from knowing Jesus Christ. I'd say all of those are definitely worth a "Like"!

That's it for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Come back in a week when I look at the next movie in this series. Until then, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!

Turning Trash Into Treasure, and Valuing Righteousness Over Popularity: A Faith- Based Look at 'The Bad Guys.'

 Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!

It's now week 2 of this blog's partnership with St. John's United Methodist Church for their Summer at the Movies series, and for this one, we will be looking at the recent animated film 'The Bad Guys.'

(Credit for this image goes to the user "Jonathan favela" on the Dreamworks wiki at https://dreamworks.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bad_Guys?file=The_Bad_Guys_Poster.jpg)

This movie, based on the Scholastic kid's book series of the same name, which features humans and anthropomorphic animals together, involves Mr. Wolf (Voice of Sam Rockwell), Mr. Shark (Voice of Craig Robinson), Mr. Snake (Voice of Marc Maron), Mr. Piranha (Voice of Anthony Ramos), and Ms. Tarantula (Voice of Awkwafina). The five of them are a gang known as "The Bad Guys" that pulls off elaborate, 'Ocean's Eleven'- esque heists and robberies.

Early in the film, an attempted heist by them goes wrong and they get caught. Mr. Wolf gets the idea to keep himself and his friends out of prison by convincing Governor Foxington that the Bad Guys can change their ways and become good. Dearly- loved local philanthropist Rupert Marmalade IV takes it upon himself to lead this effort, while the Bad Guys see it as a "Kind- cation" leading up to them attempting to steal the priceless statue that was the goal of the initial heist.
They take classes from Rupert on rudimentary forms of goodness such as sharing desserts, helping old ladies across the street, and getting cats out of trees. These efforts don't go well. However, Wolf eventually starts to get the hang of it, and even grows to like doing nice things. This catches a lot of positive attention on social media, and they are invited to a big gala to basically celebrate their supposed reform. Things take all kinds of unexpected twists, and we get an interesting take on if "Bad guys" can truly become good.


I really enjoyed 'The Bad Guys.' It has goofy fun for kids and lots of laughs, but at the same time also has some clever and sophisticated elements to it. It is an obvious send- up of "Heist" movies such as the 'Ocean's Eleven' films, and also even has some Quentin Tarantino- esque moments (i.e. The film's opening in which Wolf and Snake have a brief conversation at a diner is an obvious nod to the opening of 'Pulp Fiction'). It's funny in a lot of ways, from slapstick humor to word- play humor to funny one- liners and more.

The animation style for this movie looks fascinating. It is kind of a blend of two- dimensional and three- dimensional animation, similar to what was used in 'Spider- Man: Into the Spider- Verse,' and it makes everything seem so much cooler!

The movie's slow- jazz music score fits perfectly, too. Such a musical score is practically a mainstay for "Heist" movies, and is used very well here.

Now, for the character run- down:
All five of the Bad Guys proved to be quite likable characters, and they make for quite a nice circle of friends to each other (Thus helping to subtly establish that they do indeed have some good in them even at the start). Mr. Wolf functions very well as the main character and is the most developed of them, and Sam Rockwell was truly the perfect choice for his voice. He at times has a suave, George Clooney- esque charm to him, other times is manic and hyper.

 Mr. Snake is grumpy and irascible, yet understandably so, the fact that his main skill for the group is acting as their safecracker is hilarious since he doesn't have any hands, and they also get some laughs out of the fact that he appears to be able to swallow practically anything.
Mr. Shark's knack for being a master of disguise is hilarious, seeing this large great white shark somehow convince people that he is a construction worker, a woman about to give birth, or their own father. 

Ms. Tarantula isn't used as much as she probably could have been, but she still has a lot of clever lines and fun moments. She is the designated hacker of the team, and the sight of her eight legs rapidly tapping various keyboards and buttons is adorable to watch!

Mr. Piranha is, for lack of a better word, insane! He has loads of energy, a short fuse (Not to mention a bit of a problem with gas), and is always eager for a fight. The toughness and scrappiness that such a little guy can possess is always an amusing sight.

Speaking of amusement, the short- fused police chief got a lot of laughs from me, with her constant attempts to try and capture the Bad Guys and her funny, exaggerated facial expressions. Big props to Alex Borstein for her work as the chief's voice.

Governor Foxington made for a great supporting character, too. Supportive of the Bad Guys' efforts to reform, but trying to balance that with her obligation to protect the public. She also (As my theological points about the movie demonstrate) is a great source of wise advice for Mr. Wolf, and proves to be a lot more than meets the eye by the end of the film. 

All in all, 'The Bad Guys' makes for a delightful family movie that everyone could get a little something out of.

On the devotional I wrote that was passed out at the screening, I noted that one major theological message of 'The Bad Guys' was on how God can take even damaged people and bad periods of our lives and turn them into something really meaningful and worthwhile for His Kingdom, using Joseph's words to his brothers in Genesis 50:20. It's seen in the movie early on when Mr. Wolf and Governor Foxington are examining a modern- art sculpture. It is rather unsightly- looking and Wolf says as much, but Foxington replies "If you look closely enough, even trash can be recycled into something beautiful." To prove this, she demonstrates that, when a spotlight is shone on the sculpture at just the right angle, it creates a shadow resembling a beautiful swan. This serves as a good description of the Bad Guys themselves, and can also describe the flawed people and hard times in our own lives that God can do great things with.

Another theological message to be taken from 'The Bad Guys' is on sticking to what you know to be right, regardless of what others may think. Mr. Wolf struggles with this a lot, but again Governor Foxington is there to point him in the right direction. When the Bad Guys are about to engage in an attempted act of goodness, Wolf is feeling skittish about if the public will believe they really have changed their ways or not, but the Governor assures him, "Maybe they will believe you. Maybe they won't. It doesn't matter. Don't do it for them; Do it for YOU."

Another such moment occurs later on in the movie.
SPOILER WARNING! SPOILER FOR THE CLIMAX AHEAD!

Near the end, when Mr. Wolf has become estranged from the other Bad Guys for genuinely wanting to reform, Governor Foxington confides in him that she herself used to be an infamous burglar whose past heists were the stuff of legends, but she gave that up because she wanted to do better with her life. She tells Wolf, "Now, instead of hurting people, I'm helping them. I'm still me; I'm just me on the right side. You're doing the right thing, and someday your friends, if they're really your friends, will understand."
SPOILERS OVER!

Both of those moments drive home the important point that we should strive to do what is right, regardless of what other people (Even our friends) think of it. People's attitudes can change in a heartbeat, but following the Lord's guidance on what is right is something that's truly eternal. The Lord Jesus is the one whose opinion we should all truly care about. It's also a wise point that, if our "Friends" truly are friends to us, they will understand when we have to make tough choices and side with what is truly right. Proverbs 29:25 spells it out well: "It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe." In addition, the apostle Paul says in Galatians 1:10, "Am I saying this now to win the approval of people or God? A I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant."

Making your decisions based on what is right, holy, and in service to the Lord rather than based on what people may think of you is always the way to go, and the sort of thin you will NOT regret later on.

That sums up 'The Bad Guys.' A hilarious, thoughtful film that shows us how God can even turn our lives' trash into something beautiful, and how He seeks for us to be more concerned with doing what's right than with being popular. By following that advice, even the worst "Bad Guys" among us can become good and do incredible things for God.

That's it for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Come back next week when I tackle the third film in this series. Until then, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!