Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay

(2022)

(2025)

[Possible spoilers for Ocean’s Eleven franchise (2001-2007), Changing Lanes (2002), and maybe The Bad Guys a little bit. Not so much The Bad Guys 2 though.]

My wife had opinions on the Ocean’s Eleven franchise and heist movies in general wherein we as the audience find ourselves rooting for the bad guys. Oftentimes, even when the criminal characters are portrayed as sympathetic and the lesser of two evils, what they are doing to achieve their goals is still a crime.

In the novelization of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, we see Qui-Gon Jinn justify almost any action if he feels it’s necessary for the good of the Force and the situation they’re in, even stealing from Watto, the being who owns Anakin Skywalker and his mother as slaves.

Even with a Robin Hood mindset and a firm stand against slavery, stealing is stealing. Personally, I lean toward the chaotic good spectrum of character traits but I’m not going to steal from a store just because I believe the owner is an uppity dipshit who hates children and fun. I just won’t shop there.

I recall a line from Faramír in The Lord of the Rings who says “I would not snare even an orc with a falsehood.” That’s an admiral level of integrity. Your yes is your yes and your no is your no. If you’re going to uphold justice and expect goodwill, it will be done without treachery or manipulation. Outstanding. That puts the moral dilemma entirely on the orc.

I felt the Ocean’s franchise as a whole (specifically Clooney’s films) ultimately redeemed themselves morally in the long run but not without a Robin Hood mindset applied. And let’s not split hairs, purposely causing an earthquake under Willy Bank’s casino is tantamount to a terrorist attack but at least they made sure no one got hurt, I guess?

The Bad Guys and The Bad Guys 2 is about redemption and the difficulties one might face when they’ve already established themselves with a nefarious reputation. My wife recommended these as a sort of antithesis to the Ocean’s franchise. I’m inclined to agree, that is exactly what these are.

There’ve been a wealth of “Villain turns good” films. Despicable Me, Megamind, Wreck It Ralph, even The Grinch could fit into this category. Blythe Bad Guys Franchi. The last four words were typed by my pocket.

What I meant to write was: The Bad Guys franchise may seem like white noise amongst the multitude of villain-focused films but I believe the character complexity on part of both the antagonists and protagonists distinguishes these films considerably.

Plato said “When people speak ill of you, live as though no one can believe them.”

Unfortunately for the Wolf, Snake, Spider, Shark, and Piranha (predatory animals clearly chosen because they each have a terrible reputation), people were speaking ill of them BECAUSE of their actions. Plato put the cart before the horse a little bit in that statement I’m afraid. Somebody somewhere is going to speak ill of you. Hopefully you’ve already been living as though no one could believe them.

Our main characters were getting a late start at this endeavor, which unfortunately makes them prime candidates for being framed.

On the other side of the coin, we have the two other animal characters in the film. Yes, everyone else is a human.

We have the respected mayor, a fox, and we have Professor Marmalade, a guinea pig. We learn the fox used to be a criminal herself, but she’s hiding her past. She has established a good reputation, enough to be elected mayor. But what will people think should the truth of her past come out?

Then there’s the guinea pig. Seemingly innocent, unsuspecting, even benevolent to a great degree. But is that a façade? Does he have ulterior motives? Does he have allegiances that supersede the benevolent guise he presents?

How these characters deal with their honesty, and integrity/duplicity is an intriguing prospect, far deeper than one might expect from a film directed toward children and I greatly appreciate it for that.

It reminds me of the film Changing Lanes (2002) with Ben Afleck and Samuel L. Jackson. After being absolutely nasty to each other, just going out of their way to ruin each other’s lives, they finally decide the only way to rectify their quarrel is to do the right thing even if it hurts themselves. That film, however, had far less cute furry animals in it.

The sequel, The Bad Guys 2, continued a bit with the fox mayor’s past and villains exploiting her because of it. I felt this second film was less deep, psychologically, but still very entertaining. What they (gnomes) did with Professor Marmalade is pretty hilarious.

There’s a myriad of shorts and mini-movies that deal with various moments in these character’s past and present.

The Bad Guys in Maraschino Ruby (2022): A short film set after the events of the first movie.

A Very Bad Holiday (2023): A holiday television special.

Haunted Heist (2024): A Halloween-themed television special.

The Bad Guys: Little Lies and Alibis (2025): A short film released ahead of the second movie.

I was going to binge through these but my kids demanded we wait until the associated holidays. Also, it was bed time which put the kaibash on the binge as a whole.

Supposedly there’s going to be a third installment. I’ll watch it.

I don’t enjoy the Ocean’s franchise any less because The Bad Guys exists. I find merits in both. They’re all great films. I don’t ever feel I’m rooting for the criminals per sé. I think I’m hoping they make good choices. Really I’m just enjoying a film.

That having been said, if some pompous casino owner stole my girl, I too would probably assemble a team of thieves and acrobats to cripple his organization and re-route all of his funds to St. Jude Hospital. After that, I’d go straight, promise! No more elaborate heists for me.

Box arts!