The Bad Guys (2022)

Directed by: Pierre Perifel

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: A group of animal master thieves with notoriously bad reputations are given the chance to go good to avoid prison but the path to righteousness turns out to be more complicated than they could have imagined.

Cartoon Cat: A philanthropic guinea pig named Professor Marmalade (voiced by Richard Ayoade) takes charge of the rehabilitation of Mr. Big Bad Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (voiced by Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (voiced by Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (voiced by Anthony Ramos) and Ms. Tarantula (voiced by Awkwafina). After some failed attempts at being good, he tries them out on what he thinks will be a simple task . . . rescuing an adorable ginger tabby kitten from a palm tree. But they only manage to scare the kitten even further up the tree.

The Bad Guys - Wolf, Snake, Shark, Piranha and Tarantula looking up palm tree at scared cartoon ginger tabby kitten

At one point the kitten falls out of the tree and lands on Wolf’s head, scratching his face before running back up the tree.

The Bad Guys - Snake, Shark, Piranha and Tarantula looking at scared cartoon ginger tabby kitten tearing up Wolf

Late that night, Wolf attempts to rescue the kitten once again.

The Bad Guys - scared cartoon ginger tabby kitten in palm tree

The kitten is still scared and falls but Wolf catches him.

The Bad Guys - Wolf catching cartoon ginger tabby kitten from falling out of palm tree

Wanting the kitten to trust him, Wolf places him back on the branches and encourages the kitty with ear scratches.

The Bad Guys - scared cartoon ginger tabby kitten in palm tree

The kitten finally trusts him and jumps down into Wolf’s arms. Wolf feels the happiness of being good while petting the kitty and hearing him purr.

The Bad Guys - Wolf encouraging scared cartoon ginger tabby kitten to jump to him from palm tree
The Bad Guys - Wolf petting cartoon ginger tabby kitten

Back on the ground, Professor Marmalade shows the bad guys that he filmed the rescue and they are being liked online.

The Bad Guys - Wolf, Snake, Shark, Piranha and Tarantula with cartoon ginger tabby kitten looking at video recorded by Professor Marmalade

Professor Marmalade suggests to Wolf that at some point he will have to leave the other bad guys if he truly wants to be good.

The Bad Guys - Professor Marmalade talking to Wolf holding cartoon ginger tabby kitten

Snake questions Wolf’s loyalty that night and is surprised Wolf brought the cat into bed with him.

The Bad Guys - Wolf with cartoon ginger tabby kitten in bed

Later in the film the bad guys, sans Snake but joined by governor Diane Foxington, aka criminal mastermind The Crimson Paw (voiced by Zazie Beetz), have learned who the real bad guy is and are about to escape. Wolf suddenly stops, backs up to the palm tree and calls for the kitten to jump down to him. Wolf pulls out a pair of sunglasses and places them over the kitty’s eyes before they speed off in Wolf’s car.

The Bad Guys - Wolf, Diane, Shark, Piranha and Tarantula and cartoon ginger tabby kitten in car
The Bad Guys - Wolf, Diane, Shark, Piranha and Tarantula and cartoon ginger tabby kitten in car

The kitty is present throughout the wild car chase around Los Angeles.

The Bad Guys - Wolf hanging onto scared cartoon ginger tabby kitten flying out of car
The Bad Guys - Wolf, Shark, Piranha and cartoon ginger tabby kitten in speeding car
The Bad Guys - Wolf, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula and scared cartoon ginger tabby kitten in speeding car

Even though the car crashes the bad guys are saved, including the kitten.

The Bad Guys - Wolf, Snake, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula and cartoon ginger tabby kitten hanging from bridge

Wolf and the others not only protect Diane’s secret identity but turn themselves in to serve prison time. Wolf hands the kitten to Diane for safe keeping.

The Bad Guys - Wolf turning himself in with Diane holding cartoon ginger tabby kitten

When the guys are released from prison, Diane and the kitten are there to pick them up.

The Bad Guys - Wolf, Snake, Shark, and Piranha meeting Diane and cartoon ginger tabby kitten
The Bad Guys - Wolf, Snake, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, Diane and cartoon ginger tabby kitten in car

Final Mewsings: Kittens instinctively know who is good and who is bad.

Many thanks to Nick Wale for letting us know about the cat in this film.

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