Bad Guys 2

Story

It has been 5 years since the Bad Guys were gaoled for stealing a classic motor car in Cairo. Now free again, the 5 friends – Wolf (voice of Sam Rockwell), Shark (Craig Robinson), Snake (Marc Maron), Tarantula (Awkwafina) and Piranha (Anthony Ramos) – are determined to be the ‘good guys’. But it isn’t easy for any of them to find employment or trust in the community.

Meanwhile, Snake meets up with Susan, also known as Doom (Natasha Lyonne), a blue raven. Susan is part of a group of female bandits led by Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), who are intent on getting the Bad Guys to help them with one last job – the greatest heist of all. Kitty Kat, aka the Phantom Bandit, wants to steal a particular metal that, when melted down, will create a gold magnet strong enough to attract all the gold on Earth.

Themes

Good versus evil; animated action; robbery; crime

Violence

The Bad Guys 2 has a lot of stylised, animated violence that doesn’t seriously hurt anyone. For example:

Characters get knocked out in a slapstick way.
Opponents fight by kicking, punching and throwing each other.
During a high-speed car chase, cars crash through buildings, there’s havoc on the streets, police cars crash into the river, and a crane falls onto a police blockade.
A bomb explodes, blowing up a building.
Wolf boxes with the Governor, a female fox named Diane. Wolf gets a black eye.
During a wrestling match at the Lords of Lucha tournament, a large man wrestles a very large pig, which grabs the man by the neck and throws him across the ring. A very stylised wrestling match follows.
Characters use tranquiliser darts several times.
Characters throw knives and point guns at each other.
A man is tied up and has duct tape around his mouth. He trembles in the back of a van.
The Bad Guys are tied up in ropes and in handcuffs. They’re pulled up to the ceiling by a magnetic force and left hanging there. Then they’re dropped to the ground and raised up several times.

Sexual references

The Bad Guys 2 has some sexual references. For example:

Snake and Susan have a romance. They meet while drooling over a hamster.
Diane flirts with Wolf.
A character says that with romance you need to ‘start gently, work your way into the centre and then all of the defences will melt away’.
Snake says that Susan ‘is so hot now’.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

The Bad Guys 2 shows some use of substances. For example:

Snake seems to be drunk.
Susan gives the Bad Guys lollies that have a tranquiliser in them.
Characters drink at a wedding.

Nudity and sexual activity

The Bad Guys 2 has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

Snake has his mouth all over Susan’s head in a very wet kiss.
Wolf and Diane hug and kiss.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in The Bad Guys 2.

Coarse language

The Bad Guys 2 has some coarse language, including ‘jackass’, ‘hell’, ‘crap’ and ‘fart’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The Bad Guys 2 is an animated action comedy based on books by Australian author Aaron Blabey. Fast-paced and funny, it has a far-fetched plot and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The Bad Guys 2 has some violence and scary scenes, so it’s best suited to older children and teenagers. It isn’t suitable for children aged under 10 years.

These are the main messages from The Bad Guys 2.

Don’t let obstacles stop you from moving forward.
Goodness has rewards.

Values in The Bad Guys 2 that you could reinforce with your children include friendship, loyalty, teamwork, redemption and forgiveness.

The Bad Guys 2 could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like:

the difficulties of trying to reform yourself after doing something bad and how society can help people in this situation
the consequences of crime and how doing something bad doesn’t always make you a bad person.