Dog Man stays on a kid-friendly leash
Author and cartoonist Dav Pilkey’s successful kids book series, Captain Underpants, was adapted into a 2017 box office success. Pilkey’s other book series, Dog Man, is receiving the same treatment. The Dog Man feature film is, for lack of a better term, harmless. The script’s jokes are cute, the narrative is briskly paced, and the voice acting is solid. If you have small kids, there’s a strong likelihood that they’ll really enjoy Dog Man. If you don’t have kids, there’s not a lot in the film for you.
Dog Man director Peter Hastings has had an impressive career writing for animated series, including Darkwing Duck, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and most recently, numerous Kung Fu Panda TV series. His grasp and execution of frenetic family fun is unquestionable. Dog Man contains plenty of puns, visual gags, and one-liners (and even a clever ADHD joke). The sense of humor in Dog Man is frenetic, as it seems Hastings is borrowing the joke-focused fast action editing style of director duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller (LEGO Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street), but the results are less witty and less adult-oriented. Whether Dog Man was created to appeal to older kids, or adults, is tough to decipher. The story of a half-man half-dog cop, the titular Dog Man, who pursues an evil cat criminal, Petey (voiced by Pete Davidson), and takes orders from an incessantly shouting chief of police (voiced by Lil Rel Howery), is absurd enough to satisfy audiences of all ages, but Dog Man doesn’t dare venture beyond its kid-friendly tone.
Kids will love Dog Man’s numerous action scenes, silly characters (Ricky Gervais voices a deranged cyborg fish), and ruff-ly ninety-minute run time. During the third act, Dog Man’s story briefly toes the line between keeping up an unambiguously simple narrative versus exploring the theme of generational trauma. Dog Man chooses the former, thus securing its completely unadulterated, kid-friendly positive messaging. I believe that filmmakers who choose not to challenge social norms, or explore deep themes, or engage in critical thinking, are perfectly within their right to do so. As for me, I like my films to contain a bit more to chew on. But as for young kids? A half-man, half-dog who kicks butt and enjoys a good chew toy is plenty to, well, chew on.
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Dog Man opens in theaters on Friday, January 31st.
