STACK #212 June 2022

FEATURE MOVIE

“As a group of friends, they do quite like each other – because they’re such outcasts in the world, they relish who they are. They’re not simply just trying to one-up themselves and pull off that next big heist.”

Voice stars Anthony Ramos and Awkwafina channel their inner critters for the new animated heist caper The Bad Guys , based on the best selling children’s books by Aaron Blabey. Words Gill Pringle

She also notes how deftly the source material and the script balanced joyful imagination and poignant themes.

Awkwafina voicing Ms.Tarantula

were evolving was crying for a twist on what classic CG animation films were usually delivering,” says the French director, who previously worked on Kung Fu Panda . “In it, I saw the imagery of Steven

Soderbergh, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino; I saw the action maestri of Japanese anime and the graphic silliness of the French graphic novels I grew up with – all the way to the heist soundtracks and the cool, jazzy swagger of British films. It was all there, and it was delightful.” We meet the Bad Guys after countless heists have made them the world’s most-wanted villains. The gang is finally caught, and Mr. Wolf is forced to broker an insincere deal to save them all from prison: the Bad Guys will go good . Under the tutelage of their mentor, Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), an arrogant but adorable guinea pig, the Bad Guys set out to fool the world that they’ve transformed. However, along the way, Mr. Wolf begins to suspect that doing good for real may give

“The story is pretty existential, and these are characters with sincere dilemmas,” she explains. “It is symbolic of how we, as humans, see ourselves, how society does, and how we embody that – until we realise that we don’t have to be defined by certain things. “I like the way that The Bad Guys plays with aspects of good and bad. Those are two terms that we see misconstrued all the time. We see people that look bad but aren’t, as well as people who look good but aren’t.” Awkwafina was also thrilled to join such a brilliant group of fellow voice performers, as well as to occasionally work alongside them – a rarity in animation. “This is a stacked cast of

Anthony Ramos voicing Mr. Piranha

M any actors might baulk at being cast as a crazy farting piranha, but not Anthony

Ramos, confident in his appeal following memorable roles in A Star Is Born and In the Heights . “No, definitely not. I said, ‘Give me the all the piranha parts! I’m ready to play this Piranha, let’s go!’” laughs Ramos, who joins Sam Rockwell (Mr. Wolf); Marc Maron (Mr. Snake); Awkwafina (Ms. Tarantula) and Craig Robinson (Mr. Shark) in voicing this creature crew of outlaws who collectively make up the “The Bad Guys”. Based on the best-selling book series of the same name by Australian children’s author Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys is an animated family flick posing as a heist-caper comedy. Director Pierre Perifel pushes the envelope by hilariously referencing some of his favourite action films, such as Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs , but ultimately settles on a more PG-friendly Ocean’s Eleven vibe. “The world in which Mr. Wolf and the gang

him what he’s always secretly longed for: acceptance. But when a new villain threatens the city, he must persuade the rest of the gang to become… the Good Guys. Having already starred in heist film Ocean’s Eight , Awkwafina was more than ready to take on the role of The Bad Guys ’ eight-legged hacker, Ms. Tarantula. “The Bad Guys are pretty much the villains of everything,” she says. “They scare people out of restaurants, and steal almost for the joy of stealing.

brilliant actors, and I’m a huge fan of all my fellow Bad Guys,” she says. “When I heard who was going to be in it, I was mind blown. Toward the beginning, I was able to record in the same room with Sam Rockwell. And Richard Ayoade? He’s incredible! When we did the table read I had to turn my camera off because I was laughing so hard at what he does. Then to see him as Marmalade, it’s a match made in heaven.”

• The Bad Guys is out on June 15

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