Huh, once again, I watch an entry in the series when it's newly streaming on Netflix. The two are almost tied in general reception, with possibly a slight advantage to the sequel. And I was in the mood for a cartoon.
Even if you didn't watch the first movie, you shouldn't have trouble catching up to speed or be surprised that the titular five friends -- Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Miss Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) -- are trying to be good, but their criminal history hurts their job searches. Things get worse when someone frames them for a set of high-profile thefts. The so-called "Phantom Bandit" turns out to be three Bad Girls, who want the quintet's help to steal a rocket. Their leverage: a video that reveals the dark past of Governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz). The Bad Guys reluctantly agree to "one last heist," but will they be tempted back to a life of crime?
I can see why viewers think of TBG2 in connection with Zootopia 2. The two anthro-animal animation sequels came out in the same year. Both concern prejudice against certain species. Both have a reformed canid on the run for something he didn't do. They even both parody the "Hello, Clarisse" line of The Silence of the Lambs with a visit to the jailed previous main villain (Richard Ayoade in this case).
Nevertheless, I note some key differences. All named characters from TBG1 still get significant roles and about as much screen time as before -- not hard with so few of them; only the rescued non-anthro cat has been relegated to scenery. There is neither a third-act twist nor a "surprise" villain as predictable as in TBG1. And Mr. Wolf and Diane unambiguously love each other, with only her political optics to keep them from pursuing a romantic relationship. No wonder Mr. Wolf badly wants to preserve her reputation.
If anyone's gotten more development, it's Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein), now a police commissioner rather than chief. After all those years chasing the Bad Guys, she's not sure what to think of them. The most changed character? Probably Mr. Snake, who's been doing all sorts of wholesome activities and ironically enjoying himself more than the others, who find the new serpent strange and annoying. Also, Mr. Shark has acquired a habit of doing swift, irrational attacks in a panic, usually for the worse.
As for the Bad Girls, they're relatively clever and competent but not as intriguing as I'd hoped. Leader Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks) is unsurprisingly the meanest. Why did DreamWorks see fit to vilify yet another snow leopard after Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda? Doom the raven (Natasha Lyonne) is especially flirtatious and wields a knife, which suits a figurative backstabber. And Pigtail Petrova the, well, pig (Maria Bakalova) brings even more brawn than Kitty without coming across as dim.
Nothing herein would make me uncomfortable about six-year-olds watching. Sure, they wouldn't appreciate the pun of "MacGuffinite," but it's hardly more intellectual than TBG1. Mr. Piranha's nervous fart gags have increased, for one thing. The deep kissing scene is meant to be comically gross rather than racy. The violence is arguably reduced, given fewer KOs of law enforcement. Only the ending threatens to upset kids, briefly.
Sure enough, I too like TBG2 marginally better than its predecessor. What's more, it sets up promising premises for a threequel. Maybe I'll see that in a theater someday.
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