In the same vein as Despicable Me, 2022’s The Bad Guys looks at characters who attempt to clean up their wicked ways. Here we meet traditionally disliked animals who work against that perception.

But not initially. At the start, we see a gang led by Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell) that also includes cohorts Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos).

When they get captured during a heist, they swing a deal orchestrated by guinea pig philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV (Richard Ayoade) whereby they will reform and show that bad can become good. However, Wolf intends to play this as a double-cross, one that goes awry when he starts to take pleasure from positive behavior.

At the start, I referred to Despicable Me as a film connected to Bad Guys. That seems more thematic than literal, as both pursue their “reformed villains” themes in different ways.

Still, the similarities exist, and Guys wears a slew of influences on its sleeve. In addition to Despicable Me, we get obvious allusions to Reservoir Dogs, Mission: Impossibe and Ocean’s Eleven.

Guys makes those links obvious, but it also reminds me a lot of 2016’s Zootopia. Both focus on animals judged due to stereotypes of their species.

Zootopia approached its subject with cleverness, wit and insight. Bad Guys… not so much.

Oh, Bad Guys clearly embraces its “don’t judge a book by its cover” concept. However, it fails to find a particularly winning way to deliver this theme, and it tends to meander across its 100 minutes.

The problem is that Guys essentially attempts to coast on its “wicked folks who go good” premise without much else to sustain it. We wind up with flat characters and a message in search of a strong plot.

Much of the time, Guys just feels like a collection of set pieces combined loosely by its thematic concept. Twists pop up along the way, and not a single one surprises or seems clever.

This results in a slow, purposeless film, one that also creates a confusing universe. Essentially the world of Guys consists almost entirely of humans along with a handful of anthropomorphized animals.

Guys doesn’t stand alone as perplexing in this regard, of course. Other animated tales mix humans with humanoid animals as well.

However, I find the mix more bizarre here, if just because the movie’s universe so heavily emphasizes actual humans. If the story featured more anthropomorphic critters, this choice would seem less weird, but it just comes across as confusing.

Of course, if I found more actual wit and personality from The Bad Guys, I might not even notice these choices, much less harp on them. But the movie’s lack of entertainment value leaves me without much else to consider beyond its various flaws.

The Bad Guys appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a pleasing presentation.

Sharpness always looked good, as the movie exhibited fine delineation. Nary a sliver of softness became apparent.

No obvious signs of softness marred the image, and I noticed no jaggies or shimmering. Edge haloes and print flaws also remained absent.

Colors seemed solid, as the movie offered a palette that favored tan/amber and light blue. The hues delivered appropriate tones with good reproduction.

Blacks appeared dark and dense, while low-light shots came across as smooth and clear. The image worked well.

In addition, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack suited the material, with a soundscape that came to life during the movie’s occasional action scenes. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, those offered lots of elements that popped up in logical spots and blended well.

Quieter scenes also fared nicely, as they showed good stereo music. Effects created a fine sense of place and delivered a rich sense of surroundings.

Audio quality satisfied, with natural, concise speech that lacked edginess or other issues. Music came across as full and warm, while effects delivered rich, accurate material. Guys boasted a fairly solid soundtrack.

As we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from director Pierre Perifel, producer Damon Ross, head of story Nelson Yokota, head of character animation JP Sans and production designer Luc Desmarchelier. All sit together for a running, screen-specific view of the source and its adaptation, story/characters, cast and performances, design choices, music, animation and connected domains.

The commentary works reasonably well but feels like something of a mixed bag. On the negative side, we find too much praise/happy talk along the way.

However, we still find a pretty decent array of insights related to the project. Despite the fluffy bits, this still ends up as a worthwhile listen.

A new animated short called Maraschino Ruby runs three minutes, 50 seconds. It shows another heist by the Bad Guys. It offers decent amusement.

Five Deleted Scenes occupy a total of 10 minutes, 52 seconds. Except for the crudely animated “Scientist Button” – a post-credits tag – all used story reels. <:> The “Original Opening” offers elements largely found in the final film but with a few variations. It doesn’t seem different enough to stand as especially compelling.

The rest offer minor character beats and added comedic moments. All seem watchable but not especially memorable.

A few featurettes follow, and Devise the Plan goes for six minutes, 56 seconds. It involves Perifel, Ross, Sans, Yokota, story lead Matt Flynn, story artist Katherine de Vries, producer Rebecca Huntley, and actors Sam Rockwell, Lilly Singh, Anthony Ramos, Alex Borstein and Awkwafina.

“Plan” looks at story/characters, tone and influences, cast and performances, animation and design. This proves to become a surprisingly informative reel given its length.

Assemble the Crew breaks into five clips that span a total of six minutes, 46 seconds. Each devotes to a specific character, and we hear from Rockwell, Awkwafina, Perifel, Ross, Sans, Huntley, Ramos, and actors Craig Robinson and Marc Maron.

These clips bring some basics about characters and cast. They don’t tell us much of substance, though a few insights result.

Next comes a Cast Table Read that lasts five minutes, 51 seconds. Conducted via an online portal, the actors work through the script together remotely. It becomes a fun addition.

Two tutorials arrive under Snake’s Frozen Pop Shop. “Frozen Pop Recipes” (3:33) teachers how to make these tasty treats.

“How to Disguise Your Frozen Pop” breaks into three segments with a total time of three minutes, 26 seconds, and they show you how to make wrappers to “hide” your treats. Kids might enjoy these reels.

From the Drawing Room includes two topics: “How to Storyboard” (4:32) and “How to Draw” (11:44). In “Storyboard”, Yokota explains those techniques and teaches how to create boards, while “Draw” brings Yokota’s instructions about how to sketch five characters.

Though meant for kids, these prove pretty informative. In particular, “Storyboard” offers good insights about that domain.

The disc opens with ads for Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous, Sing 2, and The Munsters (2022). No trailer for Bad Guys appears here.

Essentially a crummier riff on Zootopia, The Bad Guys offers a muddled animated tale. It mixes action, comedy and a feel-good theme into a surprisingly blah package. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio along with a reasonable mix of bonus materials. Bad Guys shows occasional glimmers of life, but too much of it delivers a forgettable experience.