The Bad Guys

Mr Wolf (Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards outside Epping, Missouri), is the mastermind behind a team of career criminals: Mr Snake (Marc Maron – Joker / Glow) – safe-cracking machine, Ms Tarantula (Awkwafina – Shang-Chi) – tech wizard, Mr Shark (Craig Robinson – Brooklyn Nine Nine / The Office) - master of disguise, and Mr Piranha (Anthony Ramos – Hamilton) – bringing the muscle and the crazy.

They’re doing well and making a run of headline-grabbing heists, when they get caught stealing a gold statue being presented to a philanthropic guinea pig, Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayaode – Mandalorian / Lego Movie 2). While being dragged away in chains, Wolf’s lamentations that they were never given a chance to anything but criminals, finds fertile ground with the professor, who agrees to take them on his rehabilitation scheme and work on their public image. Anything sounds better than prison, so Wolf convinces the others that they just have to pretend to be good so that they can get back to their life of crime. But once Wolf realises that being good can be as satisfying as being bad, the real trouble begins…

Based on the books by Aaron Blabey, this film feels like Looney Toons mixed with Oceans 11. Fast-paced and full of laughs, this is sharp, sometimes silly, but never saccharine.

Natalie Tyldesley-Marshall