>>150021359
My perspective on the issue is that while the film is fun and has good energy, there's nothing really to the characters. I'm not sure anyone really even goes through a character arc in this film compared to the last one (which wasn't much of an arc but it was there). From the WIPs and production sketches and animatics floating around, it seems they initially wanted the movie to be like 10% more serious. Like give the people a tiny bit to think about, but they didn't do that in the end. It's a kid's movie through and through, which is fine, I'm sure their target audience loved it. But I assume kid movies are more hit and miss, whereas family movies are safer bets. Toy Story is a family movie, as an example. Sure the premise is ludicrous and fantastical, but the emotions Woody and Buzz endure through the film are real. The envy and shame Woody feels, the utter self-doubt Buzz eventually feels, they're genuine emotions and it makes sense that these characters are experiencing them given the context. There's just more for adults to appreciate.

I love The Bad Guys 2, its animation is fantastic and most of the jokes are funny. But outside the comedy the writing is just too flat.