The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist (now on Netflix) is the third chunk o’ a/v content in the The Bad Guys franchise, following 2023’s The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday (also on Netflix) and 2022’s The Bad Guys feature film (currently on Amazon Prime). Such is the formula for any reasonably successful Dreamworks Animation franchise – movie followed by TV specials followed by a sequel movie (The Bad Guys 2 is tentatively dated for summer 2025) followed by more and more stuff until we all lose interest and things cease being adequately profitable. Of course you know by now that the franchise is based on Aaron Blabey’s bestselling kids-book series, which now numbers 20 graphic novels (and reportedly will stop there). But who wants to READ something when you can more passively WATCH something as perfectly acceptable as this new special?
The Gist: A (re)introduction is called for here: The Bad Guys are a tight team of heistkateers consisting of the leader Mr. Wolf (Michael Godere) and Mr. Shark (Ezekiel Ajeigbe), Mr. Piranha (Raul Ceballos), Mr. Snake (Chris Diamantapoulos) and Ms. Spider (Mallory Low). No, these are not the same voice actors you heard in the movie, because the likes of Sam Rockwell and Awkwafina are too expensive for these things. The Bad Guys have a lair in the city and it’s full of all the stuff they’ve stolen, but they’re actually not bad people, if anthropomorphic animals can be “people,” which I think they can. I mean, they’re loyal pals and their badness doesn’t quite seep down into their hearts. It’s complicated.
Anyway, Wolf kills the lights and shines a flashlight under his chin all spooky-like and tells the story of Reginald E. Scary, a rich eccentric guy in the vein of Charles Foster Kane or Howard Hughes. Scary is long dead, but his mansion stands, and hidden in it is the most sought-after heistable item ever, the Crescent Amulet, which is rumored to curse whoever possesses it. Being a skeptical type who think supernatural hoo-ha is hooey, Wolf decides they’ve gotta get their hands on the amulet and, being the leader, the rest of the scaredy Bad Guys gotta follow. Wolf also has a rep for pulling freaky Halloween pranks on his pals, a subplot you should probably pay attention to. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that these A+ top-shelf heavyweight thieves will get their paws on the trinket, but whether it’s actually haunted is the question, right?
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Bits of The Haunted Mansion and, uh, Citizen Kane and The Aviator maybe? But this is very much in line with all the Shrek and Trolls and Boss Baby spinoffs that have piled up over the last couple decades.
Performance Worth Watching Hearing: Gotta say, Godere does one heck of a Sam Rockwell voice.
Memorable Dialogue: Ms. Spider isn’t too sure about swiping a cursed item: “Wouldn’t it be more fun to stick around here and hand out broccoli to unsuspecting trick-or-treaters?”
Sex and Skin: None.
Our Take: Haunted Heist is tame, harmless fun. Also not particularly memorable and generally disposable in a watch-once-and-move-on kind of way, but young fans who laugh when watching anthropomorphic cartoon animals fart and/or engaging in wacky antics (OK, farting technically is a wacky antic) could do worse for 24 minutes. As with previous Bad Guys outings, the special is colorful and snappy, and lightly spoofs heist movies, with their elaborate plans, cast of diverse characters and this-is-how-it-actually happened flashback sequences. If I were Guy Ritchie, I wouldn’t feel too threatened, though. Same goes for horrormeisters like Jordan Peele or Robert Eggers – Haunted Heist is about as scary as a plastic Rainbow Brite Halloween costume. I was bored, but your nine-year-old will be less so, and that’s not nothing.
Our Call: Good enough? Sure. STREAM IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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