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!
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