Annecy Has It Bad For ‘The Bad Guys 2’ as DreamWorks Animation Previews Footage for the Very First Time: ‘Bigger, Better and Badder’

DreamWorks Animation has treated the audience to the very first presentation of “The Bad Guys 2” at Annecy. It’s “bigger, better and badder.” Certainly, the exclusive preview proved oe of the best received of sneak-peeks to date at the French animation mega-fest, reactions at which are often echoed in box office worldwide. The film will be released on Aug. 1.

“We’ve been incredibly happy with what we’ve been cooking,” said director Pierre Perifel at the presentation.

“We’ll elevate the heist genre to action comedy,” added his co-director – “Robin to his Batman, Dumb to his Dumber” – JP Sans, recalling his love for the original book that felt like “Reservoir Dogs,’ with animals, for kids.” 

“It was a little hard to adapt for kids. There’s a lot of blood and a lot of fuck-yous, so we went more for an ‘Ocean’s Eleven,’ ‘Snatch,’ ‘Baby Driver’ type of adaptation. The first film has a bit of that heist, gangster genre feel. We had the planning shot, the cool crew shot, the going undercover shot, the split screen shot, the crazy-trap-that-comes-out-of-nowhere-and-complicates-things-for-our-heroes shot.” They were joined on stage by producer Damon Rossm and composer Daniel Pemberton.

While Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina) are back, the team wanted to bring “new characters, new stakes, new life, and a new story.” 

“One of the things we love about these graphic novels is that the author plays with the genres, and we thought it’d be amazing to carry this spirit into the franchise.”

Referencing James Bond, “Mission: Impossible” and “The Fugitive,” said Perifel, the idea was to go “really cinematic and theatrical. That meant we had to raise the stakes.” As well as push the anime style. 

In the first film, Bad Guys go from bad to good. But it’s not the end of their problems. “It turns out re-entering society proves very hard for our guys. They start to doubt that change.”

Struggling to find jobs as ex-convicts and framed for a crime they didn’t commit, suddenly, they are forced to do one last job: by Bad Girls. 

That includes Susan aka Doom, a wry raven that’s even more sarcastic than Snake, which is why he falls for her – “Because she’s cold-hearted and sarcastic,” laughed JP Sans. The character is voiced by Natasha Lyonne.

“Her and Marc Maron recording together… It was magic. We couldn’t use a lot of the takes, because they went too far. It was so dirty.”

Rounding up the team is Bulgarian wild boar Pigtail – voiced by “Borat 2” Maria Bakalova – and a snow leopard Kitty Cat (Danielle Brooks). Soon, they are off, ruining wrestling matches, a billionaire’s wedding or even a rocket launch. 

“They’re not only amazing actors, they’re great at comedy. And a lot of them are amazing at improv, so we set out to continue what was done in ‘Bad Guys 1’ and try to record them together as much as we could. There was a lot of ad lib and a lot of it stayed in the film. Pierre and I probably ruined about a third of the takes because we were laughing too hard.”

The audience seemed to agree, welcoming the over-the-top action sequences, Pemberton’s insights about the soundtrack – and especially the news about that scandalous Maron-Lyonne banter – with glee. During the presentation, Variety overheard one fan whispering: ‘It’s amazing.”

And as for that otherworldly ending that will lead the main characters further than ever?

“It’s BAD,” assured Perifel, with Sans adding: “We called it: ‘Eat it, Vin Diesel’!”

During an interview later that day, Perifel discussed Bad Guys’ struggles more thoroughly.

“[At first] Wolf is not as cool as he used to be. He’s trying to figure out his place in this society, in this new role as a ‘good guy.’ If the first one was a redemption story, this one is also a reinsertion story,” he said.

“What Wolf wants more than anything is being accepted and not being treated as the villain of every story – as the big bad wolf, right? It doesn’t work. People are afraid of him: ‘He’s an ex-con, an ex-thief, he’s gonna rob me or eat me.’ That’s what happens to him and his crew until someone gives him a chance – except that person is also a villain.” 

“It makes him reflect a little bit. ‘Did I make the right choice? Life was so fun when I was a bad guy.’ Now, he’s just trying to line up job interviews. It’s not easy to change and sometimes, you’re tempted to go back to your comfort zone, except that zone doesn’t exist anymore.”

The first film was a “lightning in a bottle,” he reminisced.

“There was this tone that appeals to adults, because we’re honoring a genre they recognize, and then something for children: the silliness of a shark and all these physical gags. I think that sophistication of the story, combined with stupidity, makes for something very appealing. It was also a little fresher, frankly, than what we’ve been seeing for a while in DreamWorks Animation and in Hollywood animation in general.”

Sadly, he won’t be releasing “inappropriate” ad libs between Lyonne and Maron – who recently made headlines after announcing the end of his legendary podcast ‘WTF‘ – anytime soon. 

“They’re close friends, these two. Natasha’s been in the business for so long and she’s an absolute talent. And Marc is one of the funniest persons I know, but he wouldn’t even crack a smile. He’d be super dry. He’s so smart. So smart,” said Perifel.

“When you’re surrounded by world-class actors and comedians, you can’t help but be inspired. What they do is so difficult. I mean, try to stand behind a mic and be funny. At one point, we asked Craig Robinson to play the piano, scream and sing at the same time. He had no idea what he was going to do when he walked in, and then just went for it. Who does that?!” 

However, the question remains – after blasting their characters into space, how far can they still go? 

“We can go really, really far. What happens in the books, it’s pure madness. We could never do it in films, but there’s still plenty of room for being outrageous.”

Or for parodying reality: a billionaire’s nuptials – with Jeff Bezos currently reading to tie the knot in Italy – or much-publicized space launches. 

“We had no idea that was going to happen. Then Elon Musk’s SpaceX was all over the news, so now we have MoonX. Obviously, we’re spoofing that. We were trying to wink at the real world, but without it being too heavy-handed. But the timing when it comes to our release is insane. It couldn’t be better,” he laughed.

“Look, it’s such a fantastic sandbox to work with. We have these animal characters in a human world that’s someone grounded, but they do crazy stuff, and the audience is up for it. And we’ll keep on going.”