The Bad Guys 2 (2025)

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?

The Bad Guys (2022)

It's not often that I think to watch a movie because Netflix advertises it as newly streaming, especially when I wasn't particularly sold during its theater run. But there's been plenty of fan art since, and enough people in my circles check out such fare, if not the book series on which it's loosely based, that I wanted a more informed opinion.

Before getting into the plot, let me describe the setting. For the most part, it resembles generic modern America, except that some anthropomorphic animals mix with the human population. We're not talking Bojack Horseman-level diversity here; only seven anthros appear at all, yet one of them is the state governor. They also evidently subscribe to different nudity taboos by species. I'd find it more awkward if I hadn't watched The Underdog Show as a kid.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Yes, I've been watching comic book movies at an unusual frequency lately. But I wanted to watch another movie in a theater for the first time in months, this one was on at an acceptable time, and I'm pretty sure my dad was willing to pass on it.

The last two words of the title refer to either an East Asian terrorist gang or the magical artifacts worn by its leader, Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung). Xu Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), son of Wenwu, was trained to be an assassin but ran away to San Francisco, where he serves as irresponsible valet Shaun. His long-time friend and co-worker Katy (Awkwafina) has no idea of his background until, after a decade, Wenwu's men come to steal the jade pendant Shang-Chi got from his late mother, Ying Li (Fala Chen). Certain that they'll go after his estranged sister, Xialing (Meng'er Zhang), for her pendant, Shang-Chi heads for Macau, and Katy insists on joining him to learn more. He doesn't know what his dad's up to, but it can't be good.

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

This has not received much mention in my social circles, but it gets moderately high ratings. After seeing its icon on Disney Plus enough times, I decided to give it a go. If nothing else, I'd see a dragon animation and a new effort from Big Hero Six director Don Hall.

The setting is an alternate version of Southeast Asia in centuries past, with humans and monkeys the only real species around. Known civilization consists of five hostile tribes, each named after a dragon body part. They had been in harmony 500 years ago, when dragons provided rain and other great benefits to them, but demons called the Druun turned all the dragons to stone, except one Sisu (Awkwafina), who disappeared after dispelling the Druun. Things get a lot worse when the tribes squabble over Sisu's gem and break it in five, reducing its power to keep the Druun from petrifying more beings. Six years later, Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), 18-year-old daughter of Chief Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) of the Heart tribe, is on a quest to find Sisu and unite her with all the gem shards, if only to unpetrify Benja.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

This is the first time in two years I've seen a movie set primarily in Southeast Asia. I couldn't help but be suspicious of the hype: Is it popular for being great or simply for being decent and having a mostly Asian cast, as is so rare for Hollywood? And how much does the Asian aspect matter to the plot?

Well, let me answer the latter question first: somewhat. Rachel (Constance Wu), a middle-class New Yorker of recent Chinese descent, agrees to accompany boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) to the wedding of his friends Colin (Chris Pang) and Araminta (Sonoya Mizuno) in his native Singapore. Only then does she learn that Nick is famous, being the likely heir to one of Singapore's biggest and oldest fortunes. Of course, this means that Rachel sticks out like a sore thumb at the festivities; others look down on her as a gold digger or, at best, not in the same league. But Nick's mom, Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh), also of Chinese descent, has a different concern: the allegedly incompatible philosophies of the East and West. She doesn't trust an American, even one who can speak Cantonese, to respect the tradition of heeding one's mother.