Movie review
March 17, 2022 · 100 min · PG · Kids · Animation · Comedy · Crime · Action · Family
The Bad Guys is an animated film about a group of scary animal criminals. They get caught and try to pretend they are good to stay out of jail, but their leader decides he truly wants to change. The movie features a diverse voice cast and some very strong girl power roles. A male spider from the books is changed into a smart female hacker, and the female fox governor is a highly skilled thief. There is also a very short joke about climate change.
Community feedback
Was our 28% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Bad Guys.
Woke representation / casting
The movie uses a very diverse voice cast for its main animal characters. It also features two very smart and capable female characters. One is a tech genius spider and the other is a super athletic fox governor. This fits modern female representation trends but does not feel preachy.
30%
Woke political dialogue
The characters do not lecture the audience about politics. The only minor political moment is a very quick and silly joke. A female character mentions voting for a politician who cares about climate change.
Production
10%
Identity-driven story themes
The story is about scary animal predators who are judged by their looks. They learn to ignore society's negative stereotypes and become good. This is a very classic and universal lesson about redemption rather than modern identity politics.
10%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The main bad guy is a rich, famous philanthropist who is secretly evil. The police are also shown as silly and incompetent. However, these are just common cartoon tropes and are not used to attack real-world institutions or capitalism.
5%
Woke character or canon changes
The movie changes a male spider character from the original books into a female character. It also makes the female fox character a hyper-competent secret master thief compared to her simpler role in the books.
20%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Almost everyone loved this movie as a fun family show. There was no big political fight. Only a few online viewers noticed the spider gender-swap and the capable female leader tropes, but there was no real outrage.
10%
Creator track record context
The creators have a very clean and non-political record. A few of the writers have done small progressive charity work or industry diversity mentoring, but most of the crew focus entirely on their professional work.
10%
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