Bad Guys 2 on Canal Plus: a perfect heist (review)

Pierre Perifel delivers a sequel that surpasses the previous episode on every level, proving that intelligent family entertainment can be made without sacrificing either action or visual inventiveness. One of the peaks of Dreamworks.

After its great success in theaters last summer (1.4 million admissions in France), the sequel to Bad Guys arrives this Friday evening on Canal Plus (and streaming on MyCanal). Première highly recommends this supercharged animated film, with the French voices of Pierre Niney, Igor Gotesman and Jean-Pascal Zadi.

Three years after their redemption, our favorite criminal animals are struggling to find their place in society. It’s difficult to get a job when you have “notorious robber” on your CV! But when a mysterious female team – the Bad Girls – wreaks havoc, Mr. Wolf and his gang are forced to come out of retirement for “one last shot.” The perfect opportunity to prove that they have definitely turned the page.

Pierre Perifel delivers a sequel that surpasses the previous episode on every level. The French director transforms this adventure into a true love letter to the spy film, multiplying delicious nods to Mission: Impossible, James Bond or Hitchcockian thrillers. Each infiltration sequence vibrates with a communicative energy, carried by a rhythm that never lets the viewer breathe. Visually, it’s a festival. Perifel and his team explore all registers with crazy audacity: Miyazaki-style shots for the heist scenes (the ending on the rocket is a wild homage to Lupin), comic aesthetics for certain chases, sophisticated 3D for the action… this constant hybridization is not gratuitous, since it serves the hybrid DNA of the film which constantly advances between family animation and pure genre film.

In this context, we must salute the quality of the voices. The humor, effective in the original version, reaches new heights thanks to the French actors. Pierre Niney and Igor Gotesman form a formidable comic duo, Zadi is as always exceptional (remember his performance in Astérix de Chabat) while the “Bad Girls” Doully and Reem Kherici (Ms Tarantula and Apocalypse respectively) bring a welcome dynamic to the whole. Each line hits the mark, juggling between pop references and burlesque situations.

DreamWorks has released one of its best sequels (or even one of its best animated features), proving that intelligent family entertainment can be made without sacrificing action or visual inventiveness. A perfectly successful heist.

By Pierre Perifel and Juan Pablo Sans. With the voices (in French) of Pierre Niney, Igor Gotesman, Jean-Pascal Zadi… Duration: 1h44. Released July 30, 2025