Dreamworks’ new film adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s “Dog Man” comics hit theaters on Jan. 31, being generally well-received by audiences thanks to its silly humor accompanied by the nostalgia from the original comics present. The animated children’s film, “Dog Man,” follows the story of Dog Man, a policeman-canine hybrid turned superhero, as he faces off against Petey, the world’s “most evilest” cat, in order to protect Ohkay City. “Dog Man” was an hour and a half of childish silliness, but while generally enjoyable, it was at times difficult to understand due to the movie’s stubborn adherence to immature, fast-moving plotlines.
In creating this project, Dreamworks developed a distinct visual style to allow “Dog Man” to be unique. While still polished, the style adhered to the original comics’ hand-drawn feel. Though it was 3D animated, the character design remained nearly the same as in the comic books, making it recognizable as Pilkey’s work while adding a bit of a fresher design.
As mentioned previously, the humor in “Dog Man” was unabashedly immature and foolish. It encapsulates genuine knock-knock joke levels of stupidity, some of which could only be appreciated by elementary school children. This is mainly because the main character is a dog. Dog Man is not the type of cartoon animal that talks and acts like a person, either. He chases tennis balls, holds grudges against cats and in some cases, becomes so excited he tackles people and licks their faces. I appreciated this part of it because of how simple it was. It was refreshing to see that sort of humor in a children’s movie without being paired with anything that was obviously meant to pander to parents. While this humor could be perceived as annoying to adult viewers, it was one of the better aspects of the movie.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the film also included several moments that were much more emotionally mature than expected. One of the plot lines follows Petey’s relationship with Li’l Petey, a clone of his childhood self, and explores Petey’s relationship with fatherhood and childhood experiences. I loved this aspect of the film, and it was a touching addition to the immature overtone. However, there were several instances where this felt disjointed from the rest of the movie because they were mixed in with sillier elements of the story.
My biggest complaint about “Dog Man” was the plot. Instead of simply focusing on one book from the original comic series or creating a new storyline, the creators attempted to include several plot lines and characters from multiple different “Dog Man” comics. As a result, several plotlines were confusing, if not nonsensical, and it was difficult to discern what was happening and why. The scenes moved extremely quickly, barely even introducing or explaining the things that happened within them before moving on to the next scene. The perspective switched between Dog Man and Petey too often for much of what happened to be cohesive, other than the scenes where they are either together or with Li’l Petey. It would have been much more enjoyable if the scenes were slowed down or even merged, but as the movie is it felt like the producers were attempting to add as many scenes as possible just to keep the viewer’s attention.
As a whole, “Dog Man” was an enjoyable film. Though certain moments made it a bit annoying and lessened the experience, it was in general a good movie with positive messages and goofy humor. While it is not the best movie on the planet, it was a fun watch and worth the time, although better suited for younger children rather than adults.
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