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Bad Guys Movie 2 Junior Novel
The Bad Guys are back for their second big-screen movie, and it's bigger and BADDER than ever!
It takes a bad guy to catch a bad guy! Get ready for another thrilling adventure for our favorite bad guys. Fresh out of prison, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Ms. Tarantula, and Mr. Piranha struggle to make it as good guys. That is, until a fresh wave of crime sweeps the city. Can the Bad Guys help catch these dastardly foes? Read and find out in the action-packed novelization. Includes an eight page full-colored insert.
It takes a bad guy to catch a bad guy! Get ready for another thrilling adventure for our favorite bad guys. Fresh out of prison, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Ms. Tarantula, and Mr. Piranha struggle to make it as good guys. That is, until a fresh wave of crime sweeps the city. Can the Bad Guys help catch these dastardly foes? Read and find out in the action-packed novelization. Includes an eight page full-colored insert.
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August 1, 2025
I bought the novelization of The Bad Guys 2 since my patience for the movie to come out is wearing thin, and I was anticipating what the film will have in store. Needless to say, I really enjoyed what I read. The humor and wacky action is amplified ten fold here, and the are new and interesting character dynamics explored regarding Wolf, Diane, Webs, Chief/Commissioner, and The Bad Girls. It’s still not without its issues though.
For one, I find it strange that it's been 5 years after they even left prison, even if their sentence was reduced for good behavior (which ought to indicate how much they've changed) and these people still couldn't trust the bad guys. I get they were upset and everything, but if they didn't do anything bad for 5 years, is kind of petty that these people still couldn't trust them to be productive members of society. 5 years is quite a while, especially with them, not doing anything. California's citizens need to get over themselves for crying out loud. Granted we don't know what The Bad Guys specifically did in those 5 years, but nothing suggested they did anything that would put them back in jail already.
It was already absurd how pretty much everyone in The Bad Guys is a master of disguise, which sort of render's Shark's role pointless, but when Diane is talking to Marmalade in prison, shouldn't there be cameras watching and listening to them? If so, Diane should have been outed, or at least under suspicion of being the real Crimson Paw, and that's disregarding how absurd it already was for Marmalade to be confused for and convicted of being the Paw since he has nowhere near the same body type as Diane. Granted, Diane being exposed as The Paw happens later in the story, which I guess resolves that issue, but it’s still an absurd point. More on that later.
In the wedding heist, why did Wolf look at Mr. Soliman in such surprise that he was here? What hidden drama does he have with him that caused him to act so stunned when he didn't care much about him when he stole his car in the beginning? It doesn't help that he was easily discovered by just his claws when he was dressed up as the bride. By that metric he should have discovered Shark as the officiant and Piranha as some rando trying to incite chaos by whispering in Soliman's ear to object to the wedding, and the rest of the heist would have gone to hell. I know chaos is Piranha's role, but again the disguise bit still nags me. Not to mention other strange occurrences, like where did they get the fake watch to replace the real maguffinite watch, and how did they do it so fast (the funnily named maguffinute is like vibranium and/or adamantium in this universe)? Where was the dazed bride when Wolf and Snake were escaping? Did he swing back at the last second to retrieve and deliver her too?
I thought it was rushed that Kitty went evil after stealing one bag of candy from school. If we got some extra explanations on Kitty trying to go good before committing to being evil at the end, like her trying to help people with a bloody wound or something when she's older, but they didn't want to be near a "big scary animal" which resulted in her just giving up on going good, her talk with Wolf about wondering if being bad was better would've struck harder for a character like her, and Wolf's resolve about respect being earned could have been more potent... assuming such a thing isn't misconstrued as racism/specism or what not. Kitty telling Wolf about life of being bad was better than a life of being good, or at least trying to be, and it’s something he almost concedes to during his talk with the other guys after the wedding heist, but after the distractions he went through in the first film and the rapport he got from Diane, you’d think he’d reject that notion soon after right? Well fortunately that’s still the same case here. He keeps his resolve of being himself, but for good reasons and motives instead of bad, via the reluctant assistance of the Chief/Commissioner, who slowly comes to respect them near the end, and that’s the main thematic throughline the story has going for it: respect is earned. The whole time, Wolf and co. thought they had it all by making people fear them as criminals, but after going good, that fear stuck with them, so people didn’t give them a chance. By them stopping The Bad Girls’ heist and proving their innocence, the public and the Chief/Commissioner grew to respect them. Of course it wasn’t without its hiccups, but they never gave up.
Right before the betrayal, Kitty Kat likely could have had video copies of Diane as The Crimson Paw, so one USB drive to give Wolf is not entirely convincing. So much for Thief's Honor. Also, where did the video file of Diane as The Crimson Paw come from? She's not much of a master thief if she unknowingly revealed herself when the camera was still rolling. If Piranha pulled the USB out, shouldn’t the upload of Diane as The Paw have stopped? Hopefully we’ll get specifics of that in the movie. It also turns out that Kitty’s plan is to create a metal magnet to suck up the whole world's gold, neglecting how they are gonna take all the gold without killing a bunch of people. Even then, WHY EVEN GIVE THE GANG THE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING ARRESTED AND THE UPLOAD??? If the data is leaked, the gang go free and try and stop them again. If they get arrested, they still have Diane in their pocket for anything they want to do. It was completely useless to give them the choice, resulting in and unneeded crossroad with the villains and heroes.
This next point is one that’s been on my mind since the first Bad Guys film, but it ties into what happens here in the sequel. It was a hell of a power move for The Bad Guys to fail at stopping The Bad Girls revealing The Crimson Paw’s true identity. I always had a hunch that Diane’s turn around from bad to good without accountability or consequences from the first film was off putting, but it's a good turn of events to see what she’ll do from there and how the public will perceive her. We don’t see that in this book though, just a shocked reaction from her and the public when she’s outed, but if there’s ever a third film, who knows? The second movie's trailer made her out to be someone who had history with The Bad Girls. I predicted they might expose Diane as the real Crimson Paw if push comes to shove, although that might have possible repercussions with whether Marmalade should be released or get a lesser sentence since it would turn out he's not the real Paw. Either that, or he stays in prison for stealing the donation cash. Turns out Marmalade gets released from prison after Diane gets outed after all since The Bad Girls got his help on what kind of metal they can use to attract gold.
It’s actually something about Diane I couldn't help but notice regarding her character in the first movie. When The Bad Guys admit to stealing a lot of other stuff near the end of the movie and turn themselves in to atone for their crimes, as they realize they can be more than what the world designated them to be socially, why doesn't Diane do the same when she draws that same conclusion? After she acquires the Golden Dolphin, realizes it's not making her life better, and gives up doing crime to run for governor since that gives her more control and fulfillment of her life, shouldn't she have turned herself in too? It could be argued that she doesn't need to since no one knows she's the Paw, and confessing that would add fuel to the fire of people thinking that's all she'll be, and The Bad Guys were notoriously known, so them going to jail would instill some of the public's trust in them that they can be reformed, but Diane not doing the same comes off as a "get out of jail free" card for her not further owning up to her actions and regaining public trust. Granted she was serviceable in the first movie as a supporting character, and her almost giving herself up to the Chief was enough to show her willingness to do so before Wolf intervened at the very least, but something like that can amp her up even more. This time around, Diane's still affected subtly with her public image despite changing her ways, even if she values her career as the Governor. When Diane is outed, I would have thought she would get berated and insulted by the public for being a criminal along with jail, but she doesn’t. She has a panic attack and all before going after The Bad Girls on the ship. She does lose her job as the Governor, assumedly so after she finds out Kitty exposed her, but she joins up with The Bad Guys to save the world, and continues her journey with them in an end equivalent to joining the Impossible Mission Force. Her job loss is a fine enough consequence on its own, not as much as it was for The Bad Guys, but at least she’s in the dirt with them now. In a way, I like that a lot since it gives her a better accountability motive than keeping her misdeeds a secret. I don’t doubt her governor work was all for naught, but still. It also gives her more time to spend with Wolf. She lost her job, but at least she has him.It would have been pretty funny if she secretly wanted to lose her job just so she could be with Wolf and not worry about the optics of dating an ex con. Speaking of which… WOLF AND DIANE KISSED; WOLFINGTON IS CANON! LET’S GO! Okay, fanboying aside, the subtle romantic tension between Wolf and Diane’s conversations was pretty cute to read through, as it's a neat way of building upon what they had in the first movie. A public servant and an ex con dating each other would admittedly draw some suspicion, so they keep that bond of theirs under wraps. They both keep each other out of trouble; Diane maintains trust with The Bad Guys and The Bad Guys keeping Diane's Crimson Paw identity a secret. It's only when Diane is exposed that causes her to lose something (her job as governor), but she gains something as well (stronger relationship to Wolf), just like The Bad Guys lost their goods, but gained a chance at better lives for themselves. I’m glad they committed to it in full here, like they did with Hiccup and Astrid in The How To Train Your Dragon films. If only Po and Tigress got the same treatment in Kung Fu Panda.
Matter of fact, Wolf, Kitty, Commissioner Luggins, and maybe Diane get genuine character exploration of any kind in The Bad Guys 2. The side characters are regulated to being plot devices to advance the film forward. Snake is shafted in this movie too as a love struck goof compared to the first film where he got a significant arc. People are anticipating more of Diane, and I'd imagine one of those things they want among others was more exploration of her relationship with Wolf. It was slightly shown with them not willing to commit to each other given the optics of their living situation, but Diane doesn't get to seriously think about that given how much more at risk she is compared to Wolf.
The first Bad Guys was a neat, fun, furry adventure film with a solid narrative foundation to build on. DreamWorks is mostly reliable with making good sequels, so I’m intrigued at how they compare. I’d be content with possibly counting this as another good entry in their catalogue of follow up movies. Not quite at the same level as Shrek 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, or Puss In Boots 2 regarding some of the writing, but a fun ride nonetheless.
For one, I find it strange that it's been 5 years after they even left prison, even if their sentence was reduced for good behavior (which ought to indicate how much they've changed) and these people still couldn't trust the bad guys. I get they were upset and everything, but if they didn't do anything bad for 5 years, is kind of petty that these people still couldn't trust them to be productive members of society. 5 years is quite a while, especially with them, not doing anything. California's citizens need to get over themselves for crying out loud. Granted we don't know what The Bad Guys specifically did in those 5 years, but nothing suggested they did anything that would put them back in jail already.
It was already absurd how pretty much everyone in The Bad Guys is a master of disguise, which sort of render's Shark's role pointless, but when Diane is talking to Marmalade in prison, shouldn't there be cameras watching and listening to them? If so, Diane should have been outed, or at least under suspicion of being the real Crimson Paw, and that's disregarding how absurd it already was for Marmalade to be confused for and convicted of being the Paw since he has nowhere near the same body type as Diane. Granted, Diane being exposed as The Paw happens later in the story, which I guess resolves that issue, but it’s still an absurd point. More on that later.
In the wedding heist, why did Wolf look at Mr. Soliman in such surprise that he was here? What hidden drama does he have with him that caused him to act so stunned when he didn't care much about him when he stole his car in the beginning? It doesn't help that he was easily discovered by just his claws when he was dressed up as the bride. By that metric he should have discovered Shark as the officiant and Piranha as some rando trying to incite chaos by whispering in Soliman's ear to object to the wedding, and the rest of the heist would have gone to hell. I know chaos is Piranha's role, but again the disguise bit still nags me. Not to mention other strange occurrences, like where did they get the fake watch to replace the real maguffinite watch, and how did they do it so fast (the funnily named maguffinute is like vibranium and/or adamantium in this universe)? Where was the dazed bride when Wolf and Snake were escaping? Did he swing back at the last second to retrieve and deliver her too?
I thought it was rushed that Kitty went evil after stealing one bag of candy from school. If we got some extra explanations on Kitty trying to go good before committing to being evil at the end, like her trying to help people with a bloody wound or something when she's older, but they didn't want to be near a "big scary animal" which resulted in her just giving up on going good, her talk with Wolf about wondering if being bad was better would've struck harder for a character like her, and Wolf's resolve about respect being earned could have been more potent... assuming such a thing isn't misconstrued as racism/specism or what not. Kitty telling Wolf about life of being bad was better than a life of being good, or at least trying to be, and it’s something he almost concedes to during his talk with the other guys after the wedding heist, but after the distractions he went through in the first film and the rapport he got from Diane, you’d think he’d reject that notion soon after right? Well fortunately that’s still the same case here. He keeps his resolve of being himself, but for good reasons and motives instead of bad, via the reluctant assistance of the Chief/Commissioner, who slowly comes to respect them near the end, and that’s the main thematic throughline the story has going for it: respect is earned. The whole time, Wolf and co. thought they had it all by making people fear them as criminals, but after going good, that fear stuck with them, so people didn’t give them a chance. By them stopping The Bad Girls’ heist and proving their innocence, the public and the Chief/Commissioner grew to respect them. Of course it wasn’t without its hiccups, but they never gave up.
Right before the betrayal, Kitty Kat likely could have had video copies of Diane as The Crimson Paw, so one USB drive to give Wolf is not entirely convincing. So much for Thief's Honor. Also, where did the video file of Diane as The Crimson Paw come from? She's not much of a master thief if she unknowingly revealed herself when the camera was still rolling. If Piranha pulled the USB out, shouldn’t the upload of Diane as The Paw have stopped? Hopefully we’ll get specifics of that in the movie. It also turns out that Kitty’s plan is to create a metal magnet to suck up the whole world's gold, neglecting how they are gonna take all the gold without killing a bunch of people. Even then, WHY EVEN GIVE THE GANG THE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING ARRESTED AND THE UPLOAD??? If the data is leaked, the gang go free and try and stop them again. If they get arrested, they still have Diane in their pocket for anything they want to do. It was completely useless to give them the choice, resulting in and unneeded crossroad with the villains and heroes.
This next point is one that’s been on my mind since the first Bad Guys film, but it ties into what happens here in the sequel. It was a hell of a power move for The Bad Guys to fail at stopping The Bad Girls revealing The Crimson Paw’s true identity. I always had a hunch that Diane’s turn around from bad to good without accountability or consequences from the first film was off putting, but it's a good turn of events to see what she’ll do from there and how the public will perceive her. We don’t see that in this book though, just a shocked reaction from her and the public when she’s outed, but if there’s ever a third film, who knows? The second movie's trailer made her out to be someone who had history with The Bad Girls. I predicted they might expose Diane as the real Crimson Paw if push comes to shove, although that might have possible repercussions with whether Marmalade should be released or get a lesser sentence since it would turn out he's not the real Paw. Either that, or he stays in prison for stealing the donation cash. Turns out Marmalade gets released from prison after Diane gets outed after all since The Bad Girls got his help on what kind of metal they can use to attract gold.
It’s actually something about Diane I couldn't help but notice regarding her character in the first movie. When The Bad Guys admit to stealing a lot of other stuff near the end of the movie and turn themselves in to atone for their crimes, as they realize they can be more than what the world designated them to be socially, why doesn't Diane do the same when she draws that same conclusion? After she acquires the Golden Dolphin, realizes it's not making her life better, and gives up doing crime to run for governor since that gives her more control and fulfillment of her life, shouldn't she have turned herself in too? It could be argued that she doesn't need to since no one knows she's the Paw, and confessing that would add fuel to the fire of people thinking that's all she'll be, and The Bad Guys were notoriously known, so them going to jail would instill some of the public's trust in them that they can be reformed, but Diane not doing the same comes off as a "get out of jail free" card for her not further owning up to her actions and regaining public trust. Granted she was serviceable in the first movie as a supporting character, and her almost giving herself up to the Chief was enough to show her willingness to do so before Wolf intervened at the very least, but something like that can amp her up even more. This time around, Diane's still affected subtly with her public image despite changing her ways, even if she values her career as the Governor. When Diane is outed, I would have thought she would get berated and insulted by the public for being a criminal along with jail, but she doesn’t. She has a panic attack and all before going after The Bad Girls on the ship. She does lose her job as the Governor, assumedly so after she finds out Kitty exposed her, but she joins up with The Bad Guys to save the world, and continues her journey with them in an end equivalent to joining the Impossible Mission Force. Her job loss is a fine enough consequence on its own, not as much as it was for The Bad Guys, but at least she’s in the dirt with them now. In a way, I like that a lot since it gives her a better accountability motive than keeping her misdeeds a secret. I don’t doubt her governor work was all for naught, but still. It also gives her more time to spend with Wolf. She lost her job, but at least she has him.
Matter of fact, Wolf, Kitty, Commissioner Luggins, and maybe Diane get genuine character exploration of any kind in The Bad Guys 2. The side characters are regulated to being plot devices to advance the film forward. Snake is shafted in this movie too as a love struck goof compared to the first film where he got a significant arc. People are anticipating more of Diane, and I'd imagine one of those things they want among others was more exploration of her relationship with Wolf. It was slightly shown with them not willing to commit to each other given the optics of their living situation, but Diane doesn't get to seriously think about that given how much more at risk she is compared to Wolf.
The first Bad Guys was a neat, fun, furry adventure film with a solid narrative foundation to build on. DreamWorks is mostly reliable with making good sequels, so I’m intrigued at how they compare. I’d be content with possibly counting this as another good entry in their catalogue of follow up movies. Not quite at the same level as Shrek 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, or Puss In Boots 2 regarding some of the writing, but a fun ride nonetheless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2026
It was perfectly fine for my 6yo who loves the movie. It was literally a shot-for-shot description of the movie, but they did put in some effort, so it wasn’t terrible.
May 24, 2026
Read this 1 chapter per night with my 7 year old. It is his style of humour but he also got lost a few times along the way and didn’t understand what was happening.
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