In the year 2021, unconventional action-comedy Baby Assassins was a remarkable success despite its limited budget thanks to creative characters, gripping martial arts elements and unpredictable plot elements. The idea to plan and film a sequel entitled Baby Assassins 2 Babies seemed logical and promising at the time. However, this second movie in the series only qualifies as just above average. Where did this film go wrong?

First of all, the plot is really paper-thin. Two male assassins want to earn more money and thus plan on murdering the two female assassins who are living and working together to take their places. This is it. The story doesn't have enough depth to carry this film through one hundred one minutes.

Up next, the side stories in this film simply repeat ideas from the first film on a less convincing level. Our unconventional heroines Fukagawa Mahiro and Sugimoto Chisato are training for their future missions. They are discussing food culture. The lead characters are taking on side jobs as mascots that are very annoying. The movie rehashes past ideas instead of adding anything exciting to the plot. The film's middle section thus has significant lengths.

Several scenes in this movie are executed oddly to say the least. The final fight that is supposed to be the film's highlight has a weird break that attempts to be creative but will leave viewers scratching their heads in confusion. The same could be said about the post-credit scene that shows the lead characters having a discussion about dumplings that is completely unimportant and abruptly ends right in the middle. That isn't how intriguing post-credit shots should be done at all.

However, this film still has some redeeming values despite its significant flaws. The two male gangsters are surprisingly sympathetic and seem to have a solid friendship. One of them is more serious, organized and cold as he also portrays excellent martial arts skills. His partner is funny, nervous and quirky and even too shy to speak to the waitress of his favourite restaurant that he would like to ask out on a date. In many ways, the new male characters are comparable to the two lead characters. The movie deserves respect for not attempting to create romantic side stories involving these four teenagers and instead confronting them in a matter of life and death.

The two lead characters continue to be intriguing. Sugimoto Chisato is emotional, outgoing and quirky while Fukagawa Mahiro is calm, socially awkward and rational. The challenges these two characters are going through are also fascinating. Sugimoto Chisato struggles with a gambling addiction. Fukagawa Mahiro fails her driving classes time and again. Both of them have significant financial struggles.

It's also interesting how this second movie continues to portray life in downtown Tokyo. It involves street gambling, enthusiastic lotteries and low-budget restaurants while also featuring hideouts for criminals and crime scene cleaners. The sum is certainly greater than its parts in this series.

At the end of the day, there are just enough intriguing elements that justify watching Baby Assassins 2 Babies if you are familiar with the first entry in the series. This movie convinces with two intriguing new male characters, the charisma of the unconventional lead characters and quirky details of life in downtown Tokyo. The film however suffers from a paper-thin plot, repetitive side stories and several odd scenes slowing down its fluidity. Despite such flaws, this series remains a guilty pleasure for me and I would watch a third film in a heartbeat. As I have been pointing out, this series is quite unique and you either like it for this reason or you don't. In my case, this series is exactly my kind of movie series and I will thus remain faithful to it.