Learning how to read is often a struggle with a child. Every child has their own path of development with not only speed but also material that they are actually willing to read. While some stubborn people might be of the sour mind that children should read if we tell them to, it is very much more complicated especially when dealing with special needs children. My son has had the worst time reading despite going through a plethora of various tools and books on different subjects. Sure, he could read some of the level readers out there, but he has never took to reading. Until he found Dog Man. There in the pages of a half-man, half-dog saving the city against a sinister cat, we found a series he could read easily and actually enjoy. In fact, he’s read half of the thirteen books out there. That’s six books, in less than a month’s time. I’m not sure he finished six books (on his own) the entirety of last year. That’s a ridiculous improvement and now he’s picking up a couple of Bad Guys books as well. Heck, he might pick up a true chapter book next. I hold a great debt to Dav Pilkey, the author of the Dog Man books and would love to shake his hand. So it’s with my pleasure that I get to write a review about the Dog Man movie. Let’s take a look.
Ohkay City, home of peace, home of serenity. Except when an evil cat named Petey (voiced by Pete Davidson) decides to terrorize the town with some villainous plot. Chief of Police (voiced by Lil Rel Howery) can’t stand that cat and calls in his favorite duo of Officer Knight and his dog, Greg (both voiced by Peter Hastings) to capture that cat and throw him in jail. They are really the perfect duo and bring the evil feline to justice every single time.
Petey soon comes up with a plot to get rid of both of them by planting a bomb in the middle of city. Officer Knight and Greg rush to defuse the bomb but ultimately fail in their efforts and worse yet have to be rushed to the hospital. In the hospital, the surgeons realize they can’t save the head of Office Knight and can’t save the body of the dog, Greg. Therefore, they get the bright idea to bring these two together in ways that can’t be explained by modern science. They are joined together to create Dog Man, half man, and half dog but one hundred percent awesome cop.
After a wonderful montage of moments where Petey enacts an evil plot, Chief calls in Dog Man to bring him in, Dog Man captures Petey, Petey gets thrown in jail but ultimately escapes, and the cycle starts again, we are back to the present day. Petey is ultimately very frustrated with being unable to finish off Dog Man and reveals that the perfect plan may be to make a clone of himself. Meanwhile, Dog Man has trouble adapting to civilian life. Office Knight’s girlfriend has left, the house was sold out from under them and he is forced to live alone on the outskirts of the city. Matters get worse when Petey steals a dead & evil telekinetic fish named Flippy (voiced by Ricky Gervais) and tries to reanimate him. Just another day in Ohkay City.
If you were one of the people who was able to catch Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (who Dav Pilkey also wrote the books for), this is very much in the same vein cartoon and laughs wise. It is genuinely a very funny movie and the voices are well chosen and fit their character. The plot also moves at breakneck speed but that does not mean there isn’t time for the heartwarming side stories especially when it comes to Lil Petey (voiced by Lucas Hopkins Calderon), the clone/son of Petey.
Through the vehicle of Lil Petey, we bring a much added realism and grounding to an otherwise zany movie that will touch home with many kids and adults too. The theme of abandonment is very present throughout the film and involves all of the main animal characters. I might have even shed a tear or two when Lil Petey’s flipbook is found by Petey for the first time. Sorry, give me a moment, being a parent opens your heart in uncomfortable ways.
The only negatives to the film might be the same ones when it comes to Captain Underpants (which I have now watched) is that the logic isn’t always there (I know, I know) and the tonal shifts from completely over the top to something sweet and sentimental is jarring. It’s heartfelt but occasionally looses its pop in perhaps my overly analytical mind. It would certainly interesting to see a Dog Man sequel especially with the rise of Lil’ Petey into presumably Cat Kid (which is the spinoff series of books also by Dav Pilkey).
So far, through 3 weeks at the box office, Dog Man has made more than $100 million worldwide. The budget was supposedly only $40 million so that means it was quite profitable. Money aside, it has won the heart of my son and he is a fan of Dog Man for life (that doesn’t sound right but we’ll go with it). The film is already being fast tracked to digital and will hit Blu-Ray and DVD on April 1st, 2025. No 4k, booo! Anyway, this gets a solid recommendation from me, your kids will love this and maybe you will too. Enjoy.
| Overall: |  (7 / 10) |
