Rating: 3/5
Synopsis:
DreamWorks follows up the Captain Underpants franchise with “Dog Man”, a zany spinoff from the children’s books. After an unfortunate accident, a police officer and his dog are forced to combine bodies to survive. They continue on the police force as Dog Man, who has his hands full with Petey the evil cat. With Petey devising a sinister plan to take him down, Dog Man must become the hero his city needs once and for all.
Positives:
I’ll admit that I didn’t expect much from “Dog Man”. It looked a bit too strange for my liking upon viewing the trailers. But the film is slightly better than expected, giving families and audiences a colorful series of adventures to enjoy. The film knows exactly who the target audience is: families with young children. This is a circumstance where the kids will definitely get more out of it than the parents. While the story isn’t as thought provoking as a Pixar plot or as culturally relevant as “Shrek”, it does enough to warrant a trip to the movies. The voice acting is fitting for this kind of story, especially from Pete Davidson. He is able to add so much personality to Petey the Cat, creating a sense of humanity behind the evildoing feline.
The animation is also surprisingly engaging. Not being familiar with the Captain Underpants style, the animation was strange on first look. But the longer I sat with the film the more I enjoyed its unique style. There is a bright color palate that will capture the attention of younger viewers. This combined with the energetic animation style will be a winning formula for those looking for family entertainment. It almost resembles stop motion combined with an old school looking comic book. From a style perspective, “Dog Man” does a lot to stand out.
Negatives:
Although “Dog Man” does enough to warrant a watch, it likely won’t be the go to that parents will have in the background for their kids..running over and over throughout the house. January is the perfect release date for a movie like this because I doubt it would do as well during the busier movie months. This is a low stakes, easily palatable movie that will be enough to keep the kids busy. There isn’t much inherently wrong with “Dog Man”, it’s more a matter of memorability compared to other films in the genre. The characters aren’t the sharpest outside of Petey the Cat, who steals the show in most scenes. Dog Man himself is fun enough, but his lack of dialogue might keep him as a B-level character. It’s unfortunate that he is sidelined for a fair amount of the story because Petey is the more interesting character. The movie’s style is pretty strange at times too. Due to the unique animation style and silly tone, parents will likely put “Dog Man” in the rear view mirror unlike their kids.
Conclusion:
“Dog Man” is a fun, disposable little movie that will keep the youngsters entertained. Although the story isn’t overly memorable, there is enough charm in the animation style to keep audiences engaged. The colorful characters also add to the experience, making this a fun excursion for families. I’d say this one can wait for streaming as it doesn’t compare to others in the animated genre, but for a January release…there are worse films floating around.
