Look, the Bad Guys are trying their best.

In the new animated romp “The Bad Guys 2,” the gang of anthropomorphic animals led by the Sam Rockwell-voiced Mr. Wolf has served its time in the slammer for its crimes. They’re looking to become productive members of society, but each is having trouble landing a job. Mr. Wolf, in fact, interviews at a bank, telling the manager that some of his best memories are from banks.

“You robbed us three times,” the interviewer says.

“That was THIS bank?” an embarrassed Mr. Wolf asks.

The sequel to 2022 family-friendly hit “The Bad Guys” — which brought the animal antiheroes from Aaron Blabey’s bestselling book series to the big screen — is an improvement on the solid original, thanks largely to action sequences that are downright impressive.

The action chops are clear from the movie’s opening sequence, set five years earlier in Cairo. After making an elaborate entrance, the needlessness of which perplexes then-new team member Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), the Bad Guys steal the black muscle car that will become synonymous with Mr. Wolf from an Egyptian billionaire (Colin Jost). To say the chase scene that follows the theft is totally bonkers may be an understatement, as it rivals the best of what the “Fast and Furious” franchise has to offer. (Of course, an animated movie doesn’t have to hire a bunch of stunt drivers and effects folks, block off city streets, etc., but still.)

Back in the present day, Mr. Wolf is puttering around in a hatchback that can barely make it up a hill. If the lack of employment weren’t bad enough, someone is committing crimes that look a lot like the kinds of heists the Bad Guys used to pull. Soon, Mr. Wolf suspects one of their own, a suddenly easy-going, kombucha-drinking Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), who regularly disappears, supposedly to take part in activities such as yoga classes.

We soon learn, however, that the recent crimes are the work a trio of troublemakers, the Bad Girls: scheming snow leopard Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks); beefy Bulgarian wild boar and engineer Pigtail (Maria Bakalova); and Doom (Natasha Lyonne), a wry raven who’s worked her way into Mr. Snake’s normally cold heart.

The Bad Guys — rounded out by Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) — make a pact with their onetime pursuer, police chief-turned-commissioner Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein), to help her catch the gals.

According to the production notes for “The Bad Guys 2,” sales of Australian Blabey’s graphic novel series for young readers have jumped from 8 million to 32 million since the release of the first movie. That’s not surprising, as there’s a lot to like with this mix, including the voice work.

The smooth approach to Mr. Wolf by Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) is especially laudable.

Plus, Awkwafina (“The Little Mermaid”), Robinson (“This Is the End”), Ramos (“In the Heights”) and podcaster-comic Maron (“Stick”) can be counted on for laughs.

Brooks (‘The Color Purple”) impresses, too, bringing just the right edge to Kitty Kat, whose informative background is revealed over time.

The aforementioned opening sequence is but a taste of the action to come, as our heroes must take to space — just like a fan-favorite “Fast and Furious” pair does in 2021’s “Fast and Furious 9” — to stop the Bad Girls from using a special magnet to steal all the gold on Earth.

Working from a screenplay by Etan Cohen, who wrote the first film, and Yoni Brenner, returning director Pierre Perifel maintains a tight grip on what easily could have become an unwieldy machine. Along with all the action, he has more characters to juggle, including the villain from the first flick, Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), and Gov. Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz), who continues to hide her criminal past while growing closer with Mr. Wolf.

Perifel is helped out by co-director JP Sans, who was the head of character animation on “The Bad Guys.”

This is a winning formula, and given that Blabey has put out several “Bad Guys” titles, we certainly expect the crew will be back sooner than later for more good-bad behavior.

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‘THE BAD GUYS 2’

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG (for action/mild violence, rude humor and language)

Running time: 1:44

How to watch: In theaters Aug. 1

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