The Bad Guys Trailer: A Crew Of Criminal Animals Break Good

The trailer for DreamWorks Animation's new movie "The Bad Guys" just dropped, and you might wanna hear out the pitch: Imagine "Ocean's 11," but animated! Also the crew is made up of talking animals who commit crimes. It's the feel-good crime thriller of the year, definitely safe for kids and probably won't even encourage them to become criminals. While most audiences walked away from that beloved Soderbergh thriller plotting their next casino heist, people just might leave "The Bad Guys" with only one question on their minds: How will I become a model citizen?

Turns out a life of crime doesn't do much for the soul, because the no-good animal outlaw crew of "The Bad Guys" is tackling a shocking and especially challenging con: becoming good. As you can probably guess, turning away from their underhanded ways in favor of honesty and hard work is even more difficult than it sounds. With Billie Eillish's "Bad Guy" (duh) playing in the background to spur them on, this crew of misunderstood villains must accomplish the impossible and turn their lives around ... sort of. You can get a peek at their upcoming misadventures in the trailer below.

The Bad Guys Trailer

Time to revise the "Bad Guys" pitch: Think "Oceans 11," with a little Tarantino flare, a dash of unique animation, and a sprinkle of family-friendly vibes, and voila! You have yourself the newest film from DreamWorks Animation. Still not on board? Just consider the star-studded cast behind the voices of this villainous crew! The film is lead by a dashing version of the Big Bad Wolf — though he prefers Mr. Wolf — voiced by Academy Award-winner Sam Rockwell. Along for the ride is his trusty safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), master-of-disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), short-fused "muscle" guy, Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and sharp-tongued expert hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), aka "Webs." Together, they make the worst attempt at being good that you've ever seen.

The five friends are infamous for their bad deeds, but their criminal careers come to halt when "after years of countless heists and being the world's most-wanted villains, the gang is finally caught." Ever the calculating leader, Mr. Wolf brokers a deal to keep his crew out of prison: The Bad Guys will go good. The problem with their scheme? They don't actually mean it. With the help of their mentor, Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade) — a guinea pig who's equal parts arrogant and adorable — they try to fool the world into believing that they've gone good. Along the way, Mr. Wolf discovers that he actually enjoys the do-gooder feeling of helping others and being accepted by the world. Naturally, his selflessness is immediately put to the test by the arrival of a new villain, meaning its up to the crew leader — yes, the notorious storybook villain — to guide his crew towards the light.

Based on the Scholastic book series of the same name, "The Bad Guys" doesn't quite mirror the visual style of its source material, but it still has a distinct sense of style, maybe even taking some influence from the monumental work of "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse." This film comes from director Pierre Perifel, making his feature film debut after working in the animation department for previous DreamWorks Animation films, including "Kung Fu Panda," "Monsters vs. Aliens," and "Rise of the Guardians."

"The Bad Guys" arrives in theaters on April 22, 2022.