Villains, Inc.

by Rachel Willis

When their super villain leader dies, three henchmen are left adrift in director Jeremy Warner’s comedy Villains, Inc.

It’s an interesting concept told with the kind of mundanity that speaks to real life. Though most of these villains have superpowers and special abilities, they need jobs – just like the rest of us. They also have dreams of the future, just like us. Not perhaps of a summer house in the country, but of world domination. 

After the leader dies, Beatrix (Mallory Everton) becomes the group’s de facto number one. The other two (Colin Mochrie and Jason Gray) just aren’t capable of leading anyone.

There is a certain amount of comedy from the set up alone. What do hench people do when they have no one to guide them? However, this concept only takes you so far. What follows is often forced and ineffective. No one leans into the material, so too often, there is nothing to laugh at.

We’re left with clunky dialogue and a been-there-done-that style of humor. That’s not to say no joke ever lands – Mallory Everton and Jason Gray get produce a good laugh or two – but too often the writing gets in the way.

The story itself is fine. We have montage moments and misunderstandings, reconciliations and growth. The superhero of the film, Captain Justice (Trey Warner), has some of the best scenes, but even a few of those are lifted from other films. The moment when Justice hands out “swag” to fawning cops is reminiscent of The Lego Batman Movie.

While the characters are likable enough, there simply isn’t enough working for this movie to keep it interesting. There are too many threads for each to get a satisfactory resolution, as if the writers weren’t quite sure what kind of story they wanted to tell.

The slap-stick style comedy will definitely work for some, but comedy is one of the toughest sells. What resonates is not so much the humor but the desperation that comes with needing a job – even if you have superpowers.