By Becca Johnson - February 10, 2025
Based on the best-selling graphic novels by Dav Pilkey, the same mind that brought us Captain Underpants, Dog Man is the next of his much-loved works to be given the feature-length film treatment. Directed by Peter Hastings and featuring voice performances from Pete Davidson, Isla Fisher, Ricky Gervais and more, Dog Man tells the story of a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner who are injured together on the job. A harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together, and Dog Man is born - sworn to protect and serve as well as fetch, sit and roll over. As Dog Man embraces his new identity and strives to impress his Chief, he must stop the pretty evil plots of feline supervillain Petey the Cat.
With bright and colourful animation, great voice performances and an enjoyable main plot, Dog Man has enough fun to provide the whole family with helpings of it. However, the overstuffed story creates a messy outcome, particularly during the third act.
Though the target audience for animated movies of this ilk is kids, the best movies within the genre know how to appeal to the whole family. Luckily, Dog Man won’t only impress its younger audiences members who see it this weekend, but their parents and guardians too. With dumb laughs aplenty for the little ones and witty jokes that only adults will latch on to, it really does nail its attempt to be fun for the whole family. Of course, not every laugh lands, but with far less toilet humour than its predecessor Captain Underpants, it’s pretty palatable. The bright, eye-catching visuals are bound to keep audiences of all ages invested, and the comic-like animation style pulled straight from the graphic novels works wonders on the big screen. It’s hard not to be sucked in by all its charm, and as dumb as the central premise is, it never takes itself too seriously and knows how wacky it is whilst simultaneously providing some important messages that will resonate with all. With a focus on family and friendship, teamwork and good over evil, it’s a story that parents and guardians will be glad to see their children delve into.
The characters that make up Dog Man are sweet, fun and enjoyable, with a slew of furry and not-so-furry friends to meet along the way. Titular Dog Man is as admirable as he is silly, who goes on an important journey of self discovery. Finding friendships and building a new life for himself, he never forgets what’s important, and is committed to protecting his city from all dangers, particularly evil Petey the Cat. Petey is a fun, well-designed villain backed by an excellent voice performance from Pete Davidson (Bodies Bodies Bodies). Repeatedly coming up with wacky inventions in his Secret Lab (lit up by neon lights and arrows) to try and take down Dog Man, he’s an extremely entertaining presence who has an important journey of his own.
Despite how great that pairing is, and it really is fun to see them taking each other down again and again, the stand-out amongst our animated cast is Li’l Petey. A clone of Petey, who isn’t entirely as expected when he crawls out of the cloning machine in kitten form, Li’l Petey is completely adorable, effortlessly funny and brings much of the heart and soul to the script. Serving as a reminder to our crew on the importance of family, he really makes this story what it is. The human characters are almost as enjoyable as our four-legged ones, and no time spent with them is used longing for our canines and felines to return to the screen. Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) in the role of Chief is always a delight, and Isla Fisher’s (Now You See Me) news anchor Sarah Hatoff is hilarious.
The central premise surrounding Dog Man working as a cop to take down evil Petey the Cat is really strong. Constantly breaking out of jail due to many inventive methods, Dog Man’s work is never done, and this storyline remains a lot of fun. However, the further the run-time progresses, the more unnecessarily convoluted things become, which makes Dog Man somewhat resemble a headache by the third act. A second villain, Flippy the Fish is introduced, and he’s perhaps the least entertaining character of all. Voiced tediously by Ricky Gervais whose voicebox doesn’t entirely suit this character, Flippy is a grating presence whose only purpose is to create more stakes and danger for our characters.
The simplicity of the good vs. evil storyline is traded in for buildings that come to life, a poorly paced climax that seems to drag on and one too many references to its source material that don’t all need to be included. By the time it is introducing a second villain it is already trying to be funny, appeal to all audience members, have heart, develop its leads, do the novels justice and wrap up the storyline. It tackles far too much, and occasionally loses sight of why it’s great.
Dog Man boasts consistent laughs built of of humorous dialogue and neat visual gags, a heartfelt storyline that feels natural and endearing, likable characters with talented voice acting behind them and a fun superhero-esque good vs. evil plot. The animation is as vibrant and unique as the characters inside it, and the wacky yet clever script is surprising. Unfortunately, much of it falls apart by the third act as far too many threads for an 89-minute romp are woven, so it ultimately bites off more than it can chew. Nonetheless, if this is the next animated movie your kids want on the TV on repeat, it’s certainly not the worst option.
Out now in cinemas
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