When one thinks about it, Dog Man's story is messed up. It's the tale of a police officer and his dog who are injured in the line of duty, leading to the brilliant and scientifically implausible idea of stitching the dog's head onto the man's body so both may continue to serve and protect the public. Essentially a children-friendly Robocop minus the consumerism satire, Frankenstein monstering its hero into Man's best law enforcement friend. But then again, author Dav Pilkey has long walked a fine line between absurdist and playfully juvenile, delighting young readers everywhere with his Captain Underpants, Ricky Ricotta, and yes, the long-running Dog Man series for years.
With Dog Man — the latest movie adaptation of Pilkey's characters after Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie — DreamWorks successfully brings its titular hero and his wacky world to the big screen, with largely enjoyable results. Compared to last year's Oscar-nominated tearjerker The Wild Robot, Dog Man isn't setting a new benchmark for DreamWorks Animation. The movie juggles a web of cases, schemes, and characters that come together well enough, if not occasionally disjointed. But they are fun, over-the-top characters with a sense of self-aware humor, backed up by an impressive animation style that not only captures the look of Pilkey's art direction but reflects the company's willingness to buck its own CG formula. It's clearly going for the "kids film lovers" demographic, but on those merits, Dog Man is worth taking the kids out for a movie night.
Dog Man Tells an Amusing Story of Paw and Order
It Blends Action, Comedy, and Drama, Even if its Story Feels a Little Fragmented
The film certainly wastes no time going into the "birth" of Dog Man, as advertised in its trailers. Set within the fictional metropolis of Ohkay City, Dog Man opens with a high-speed chase between Officer Knight and his loyal dog Greg as they pursue nefarious the "world's evilest cat" Petey (Pete Davidson) across town. This chase is cut short after the scheming cat villain lays a bomb for his rivals, which puts Knight's head and Greg's body out of commission. The medical life-saving solution? Stitch the dog's head onto the man's body, turning him into a "supa cop" with canine powers, martial arts know-how, and a tongue that won't stop licking people. Soon, Dog Man becomes a local celebrity beloved by citizens and ace news reporter Sarah Hatoff (Isla Fisher), even if Ohkay City's police chief (Lil Rel Howery) finds his endless slobbering and dog antics in the precinct overbearing.
Now facing the long tongue of the law, the curmudgeonous Petey quickly gets fed up with Dog Man thwarting his evil schemes, even if he manages to escape prison after every arrest. This gives Petey the brilliant idea to clone himself, only to create a pint-sized kitty named Li'l Petey, who is the exact opposite of his "Papa" in every way. That is to say, cheerful, kind, and naively sweet. Attempts to get rid of the clone don't go according to plan either, with Dog Man discovering Li'l Petey and — still finding his life as a dog-human mashup rather lonely — lets the little guy stay at his place. Oh, and there's also the return of Petey's deadbeat father, Grampa (Stephen Root), to deal with. Along with an overly convoluted scheme involving a dead telekinetic fish named Flippy (Ricky Gervais) to destroy the town and maybe rule the world.
Like a lot of children's book adaptations, Dog Man's attempt to fit itself within a three-act movie structure yields mixed but serviceable results. There are attempts to mine the film's silly world for deeper, more intellectual themes, but the story only goes so far into those ideas before reverting to silliness. When Dog Man briefly visits his old home (which he remembers as both pet and owner), there's a brief moment of sadness where the viewer realizes what was given up for the sake of his new job as a crime fighter, only for the movie to make a few jokes and push that idea aside. More time, meanwhile, is devoted to assessing why Petey views the world so "glass half empty" and how a cat as bitter as he could produce someone as pure and innocent as Li'l Petey. These scenes have their charm, but there are often too many scenes doing too many things that feel random at the moment, even if the finale gathers them back together for a relatively solid conclusion.
The Dog Man Cast Deliver Some Funny Performances
These Characters May Not be the Deepest, But They're All Charming in Their Silliness

The performances are all very cartoonish, and understandably so. This is another of those films where A-list celebrities fill out the voice cast — save for Dog Man, who communicates solely in grunts, growls, and whines provided by writer-director Peter Hastings, who worked on Netflix's The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants — though everyone from Fisher to Howery seems to understand the film's absurd, self-aware wavelength, especially Howery as Chief. The Get Out star has a lot of fun alternating between the over-the-top "angry cop boss" archetype and a pillar of emotional support for Dog Man, one moment exasperated by his dog-like quirks, then encouraging him to find red tape loopholes to catch the bad guy the next. Davidson, meanwhile, gives Petey a mix of hubris, dark humor, and pettiness that fits him into the realm of bad guys who aren't truly "bad" guys, even if he prefers to see himself that way, especially when dealing with the responsibilities of caring for a kid. They're all fun characters, if not the deepest audiences will see compared to past DreamWorks films like The Wild Robot or Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
As for the titular Dog Man, despite not having a voice, he doesn't skip on personality. Hastings and the animators give Dog Man all the happy-go-lucky traits one would expect from a good boy/crime-fighter, but mixed with the goofiness of him performing these tasks with a human physique. Hence, the absurd spectacle of Dog Man catching Chief's paper scraps when he throws them in the wastebasket like a ball, curling up on his bed, or getting distracted in the middle of a heated aerial chase to go after a random squirrel. Dog Man's stylized animation also gives his actions a lot more bite, often reacting with 4th wall-breaking visuals that emphasize the comedy and drama of the moment.
Dog Man's Visuals Capture the Spirit of the Books
DreamWorks Takes Another Bold Animation Risk That Pays Off Handsomely

The animation, more than anything, is a worthwhile reason to see Dog Man. Ever since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Versebroke down the rules of 3D animated storytelling, there have been more attempts by DreamWorks and other animation studios to try out experimental styles that impose their own unique identity onto the medium. Dog Man is no exception. This movie goes for a cross between painted textures and almost felt art-inspired character models, giving their actions and the world of Ohkay City a vibrancy straight out of Pilkey's novels — sometimes quite literally when the movie cut to newspaper clips drawn in his art style. The visualized text boxes and added action lines also help capture the exaggerated nature of Dog Man's world, giving it a comic-booky feel while looking deliberately rough around the edges.
Watching this film, it's easy to see how much Dog Man's animators loved playing around with their world's visuals. An investigation featuring Dog Man and Sarah doesn't just have them run across town; the town physically rotates around them like a spinning wheel while running toward their next destination. Dog Man lives inside a house that obeys Doctor Who TARDIS laws of physics, transitioning from a small doghouse shack interior to a hefty living space, complete with a house piano and upper bedroom. And that's to say nothing of the final act, which includes hilarious nods to 70s cop shows while delivering one of the strangest visual designs for evil animated henchmen in a long time. It's silly, but the smart kind of silly that reflects a good eye for animated humor. Not to mention a world that was clearly thought up by a child's adolescent mind, which holds true to the source material.
January tends to be the month when Hollywood tosses out the movies it doesn't trust to succeed into theaters, hoping they'll fade away quickly. But Dog Man, despite its flaws, seems like it'll stick around for a bit. The plot is at once heartfelt and scattershot, spreading its characters out too much but bringing their stories together in a way that highlights its themes of second chances and redemption. Arcs are familiar but performed well enough by a very game cast and boosted by some kooky yet very creative animated visuals. And it has both silly and heartwarming moments where they need to be in the story.
For those who really love the Dog Man franchise, this movie will be satisfying. And for those who haven't picked one up yet, it's still worth catching on the big screen. It's not perfect, but still "supa" fun, and, given the amount of Dog Manbooks Pilkey has written, clearly asking for a sequel.
Dog Man releases in theaters on January 31.
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