The Bad Guys 2 appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. As anticipated, this became an excellent Dolby Vision presentation.
Sharpness was fine across the board. Virtually no softness appeared, as the movie delivered satisfying definition.
No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and edge haloes were absent. Of course, print flaws never manifested themselves.
The film’s palette offered a general pastel tone, with an emphasis on ambers, blues and greens. The colors showed a good sense of vividness and worked well, with a nice boost from HDR.
Blacks were dark and deep, while low-light shots offered nice clarity and smoothness. HDR enjoyed a good upgrade in terms of whites and contrast. This became an appealing visual presentation.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, we got a Dolby Atmos soundtrack that offered a lively soundscape, especially during the many action sequences. Those fleshed out the spectrum in an involving way and gave us good involvement for these spectacles.
These traits kicked into even higher gear as the movie progressed. While the film came with plenty of sonic action from its start, the climax got even crazier, and the various speakers added real kick to the proceedings.
Audio quality seemed pleasing. Speech always sounded distinctive and concise, while music was peppy and rich.
Effects offered solid reproduction, with clean highs and deep lows. I liked this mix and thought it gave the movie life.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Both came with identical Atmos audio.
The Dolby Vision UHD boasted superior delineation, colors and blacks. While the BD also looked great, the UHD kicked it up a notch.
As we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from director Pierre Perifel, co-director JP Sans, Head of Character Animation Benjamin Willis, Head of Story Katherine De Vries and Head of Cinematography, Layout Théophile Bondoux. All five sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, visual design and animation, editing and cut scenes, music and audio, Easter eggs and related topics.
I thought this became a good but not great commentary. While the participants touch on a compelling array of topics, the track just lacks something special to make it terrific. Still, it does the job.
A new animated short, Little Lies and Alibis goes for five minutes, 42 seconds and shows wacky events that caused the Bad Guys to arrive late to their last parole meeting. With the original cast all involved, it becomes an amusing adventure.
Two Deleted Scenes appear: “Lowrider Chase” (2:18) and “Crime Sisters” (3:34). Both offer entertainment, and “Sisters” adds some character information for Diane.
The segments include intros from Perifel and Sans. They put the clips in context and explain why they didn’t make the movie.
We find seven featurettes, and Out of Line runs two minutes, six seconds as it shows footage of the actors in the recording studio. I enjoy this kind of material, even if this becomes an awfully short reel.
Double Jeopardy spans four minutes, 46 seconds. It delivers info from Perifel, Sans, DeVries, Willis, producer Damon Ross, visual effects supervisor Matt Baer, editor Jesse Averna, and actors Zazie Beetz, Maria Bakalova, Anthony Ramos, Marc Maron, Danielle Brooks, Sam Rockwell, Natasha Lyonne, and Awkwafina.
We get thoughts about the development of the sequel as well as story/characters. A few minor insights emerge but most of “Double” feels like fluff.
With Meet the Gang, we get a seven-minute, 37-second reel. This one involves Ross, Rockwell, Ramos, Sans, Maron, Awkwafina, Perifel, Beetz, Brooks, Lyonne, Willis, DeVries, Bakalova, and Averna.
Like the title implies, “Gang” looks at cast, characters and performances. Expect ore happy talk and not much substance.
Double Trouble lasts nine minutes, two seconds. It gives us remarks from Brooks, Lyonne, Bakalova, Beetz, Awkwafina and animal trainer Molly O’Neill as the actors meet real-life representatives of the critters they portray in the movie. It leans cutesy but it comes with enough facts about the animals to merit a look.
Next comes Causing a Scene. Via this five-minute, 16-second sequence, we locate statements from Awkwafina, Perifel, Ross, Rockwell, Averna, De Vries, Sans, Bondoux, Baer, Ramon, Maron, Willis, and Head of Lighting & Compositing Joanna Wu.
The reel looks at the approach of the co-directors, editing and story construction, visual choices, and animation. We find another mix of good notes and basic praise.
Planning the Heist occupies 10 minutes, eight seconds and shows Perifel and Sans as they brainstorm how to depict a particular scene. I strongly suspect we see a recreation of their interactions and not actual collaboration but this nonetheless gives us an interesting view of the creative processes.
Finally, Sketching the Bad Girls takes up a total of 10 minutes, 49 seconds as Perifel shows us how to draw Kitty, Doom and Pigtail. However, it takes an unusual format.
Sans pretends to have witnessed a crime and he describes the critters he saw to a “detective” – aka producer Ross - while Perifel illustrates what Sans says. This comes as a clever way to provide the usual “how to draw” tutorial.
A second disc offers a Blu-ray copy of the film. It includes the same extras as the UHD.
Though the first movie seemed mediocre, The Bad Guys 2 turns into a rollicking blast. A lively mix of comedy, action and heist shenanigans, it barrels out of the gate and winds up as a consistent bucket of fun. The 4K UHD comes with excellent picture and audio as well as a mix of bonus features. Chalk up Bad Guys 2 as an unexpected treat.
