Dog Man (Peter Hastings) in DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man, directed by Peter Hastings.
It’s time for Dog Man to be unleashed.
For those of you who are unaware, Dog Man is based on the series of best-selling children’s graphic novels by Dav Pilkey, who also authored Captain Underpants. Dog Man tells the story of an amazing police detective who, after a terrible accident with his police dog partner, finds himself physically fused together into one amazing officer. Now part man, part dog and all hero, Dog Man works tirelessly to catch the notorious Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson), an evil feline bent on ruling the world.
If you’re new to the franchise, you should know that Dog Man is a wild ride. After all, this is a series that includes kitty-cloning, giant attacking apartment buildings, and a revived fish-robot hybrid built for evil. (There’s even a robot named 80-HD, a name which phonetically sums up the series well.) It’s frenzied, absurd and actually very funny in moments.
In short, it doesn’t take itself ‘serious-ally’.
While performances are fine, one of the best things about Dog Man is its visual style. Featuring animation that leans almost into stop-motion, DreamWorks has developed something that feels entirely unique. Brightly coloured and strangely three-dimensional, Dog Man pushes the animation in such a way that it almost feels tactile in some moments. (It’s worth noting that the series also a vast improvement from the last adaptation of Pilkey’s work, Captain Underpants, giving it more texture and shading.) This film is meant to feel like the pages of a book, come to life – and it works for the franchise.
Though, new parents should also know that that the film’s frenetic pacing is wild. It’s perfect for young kids who are excited about the franchise but, for those looking for something deeper, it can also keep us from genuinely connecting with the characters. For example, while Captain Underpants was equally silly, they still spent enough time with its leads to build the story’s emotional core. However, Dog Man’s speed is wild and unrelenting. This is the type of comedy where, if you don’t like the first joke, there’s likely two or three more firing right behind it.
What’s more, with a story that compiles pieces of multiple books, Dog Man also wants to cover a lot of ground in its story. Characters are introduced quickly and story points bounce around like a ping pong ball in a washing machine. While that absolutely tracks with the tone of the books and keeps the film moving, it does make for its own brand of chaos narratively.
Having said that though, when the film really gets rolling, the story does show its (dog) hand. Even though it doesn’t take itself too seriously, Dog Man eventually taps into the ways that love can change a person. Without giving too much away, the film features multiple characters faced with the chance to be different because someone else helps them see the value in others (or themselves). There’s an opportunity for redemption here for many characters that offers kids lessons about making better choices. This isn’t a story that wants to be too heavy handed but it definitely gives the film’s second half the necessary charm to balance out the silliness of the ‘Gooba-Gabbas’. (Oh… you’ll see…)
In the end, Dog Man has a lot of bark, even if it doesn’t fully bite. This is the sort of film that kids who love the books should adore but may leave parents wanting, especially if they are unfamiliar with the material. (It’s worth noting that my own 10-year-old gave it 10 out of 5 stars. That’s not a typo.) But I have to admit that, eventually, even I was tracking with Dog Man’s wild sense of humour. Seriousally.
Dog Man is available in theatres on Friday, January 31st, 2025.
