In “The Bad Guys 2,” a group of once-notorious animal criminals attempts to blend into society, trade in their old ways for office jobs, and do what’s right, even when the reward isn’t instant or easy.
But for director Pierre Perifel, who returned to helm the DreamWorks sequel after the original film’s success, revisiting Australian author Aaron Blabey’s charming world of misfits was a personally fulfilling experience.
“When you direct a movie for the first time, and it resonates with the audience and people love it, and then you have the opportunity to play it again and to do a sequel, I mean, this is a rare opportunity,” the 45-year-old French director and animator told The Christian Post. “So I’m so grateful that I had a chance to actually do a sequel to this movie. But also it’s a fun bunch of characters, and you want to spend time with them.”
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Rated PG, the core “Bad Guys” cast returns — Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina and Zazie Beetz — alongside new additions like Danielle Brooks, Maria Bakalova and Natasha Lyonne.
“The Bad Guys” graphic novels highlight an important message for both children and adults: Don’t judge others by their outward appearance, and change is possible, even for “bad guys.”
And what drives the sequel to the 2022 film forward isn’t just its heists, comedic moments or nods to action blockbusters, though there are plenty of those moments. It’s the deeper emotional journey, especially for Mr. Wolf, whose struggle to change his identity after a life of crime forms the emotional core of the film.
“There’s something so cool about the ability just to live more adventures with these characters,” Perifel said. “And on top of that, what happened was we managed to gather most of the same team to just do it again all together … it’s a dream come true, honestly.”
Perifel pointed to a quieter moment as the one that moved him most: A scene where Wolf is chatting with Kitty Kat, a new villain, who questions Wolf’s decision to leave his criminal past behind. Why, she asks, would he walk away from power, freedom and admiration to become just another face in the crowd?
“Wolf is taken by surprise by this and really, just like, it hits him,” Perifel said. “Maybe I made the wrong choice.”
“Sometimes you make changes or you make decisions in your life, and then you realize … this is not comfortable,” he added. “Did I make the right choice? You’re very tempted to go back to what you used to be or used to have. And only to realize, it’s OK to be uncomfortable for a little while. You have to live with it until you crack it and then you start to live that new life.”
The film doesn’t sugarcoat the reality that being good doesn’t always come with applause, though it’s the right thing to do.
“Doing good is not always what’s going to get you a reward,” Perifel said. “As long as your intentions are the right intentions … doing bad for the sake of doing bad things, no, I don’t think that should be the message, definitely not. But in the end, like the Bad Guys are doing, they have a good reason to do everything they’re doing.”
For faith-based and family audiences, the film’s emphasis on integrity, especially when it’s inconvenient, feels especially resonant. One of the most enduring themes of both films is redemption, a message Perifel stressed is as important for kids as it is for adults.
“It’s so easy to stigmatize an action or behavior without giving the opportunity to tell the person who did that, ‘Look, you can fix this,’” Perifel said. “It’s not a zero-sum game. Sure, maybe it’s a mistake. But it doesn’t define you.”
“You don’t have to listen to the noise of people who are telling you that you’re bad,” he said. “There’s always the path where you can just step back and say, ‘No, it’s not me. I don’t want it to be me. That action doesn’t define me.’ … It’s never too late to change.”
Alongside the returning characters, “The Bad Guys 2” introduces a new trio of villains: Doom, Kitty Kat and Pigtail. Each villain offers a distorted echo of what the Bad Guys could have become. They’re slick, powerful, ambitious and tempting.
“They are the other side of that mirror,” Perifel explained. “They are the wrong path. If you were to listen to these characters, you would just go back to being bad … they are all of what Wolf could have been if they had continued down the path of being bad guys.”
Kitty Kat, in particular, stands out as more than a villain; she’s complicated and not without sympathetic traits.
“She’s hurt,” Perifel said. “She’s literally where Wolf was before the first movie. She’s like Snake, she’s like all of them. She didn’t even do anything, and the teacher told her she didn’t belong here, just because of the way she looked.”
That idea — that people, especially kids, can be unfairly labeled before they’ve had a chance to define themselves — is something Perifel hopes viewers will take to heart.
“It’s very relatable,” he said. “In particular for kids. … You get labeled without even doing anything necessarily bad. And she ended up falling victim to that labeling and rebelled against it.”
“But deep down, she’s not a bad character,” he said. “She’s just a wounded kid.”
“The Bad Guys 2” is filled with fast-paced action, slick animation and clean humor for all ages. But under the surface, it’s about the courage to change, the pain of letting go and the strength it takes to stay the course, especially when the reward is unseen.
“It’s a joy,” Perifel said of directing the sequel. “It’s a pleasure.”
“The Bad Guys 2” hits theaters on Aug. 1.
