I had no idea what to expect.
Popcorn in hand, I sat down in my chair at the movie theater. What met my eyes was a masterpiece.
I wasn’t surprised when “Dog Man” was being turned into a movie — author David Pilkey’s other bestseller, “The Adventures of Captain Underpants,” got its own adaptation in 2017. It was obvious that “Dog Man” would also get a movie at some point.
The movie follows the first three books of the “Dog Man” series. Its main characters are Dog Man: the half-man half-dog police officer, Petey the cat: the city’s most evil cat, Chief Cop: the Chief of the police and Sarah Hatoff: a news reporter always following Dog Man. Throughout the movie, Petey creates inventions to stop Dog Man from being so famous. But when Petey’s sidekick Kiki leaves, Petey makes a clone named “Lil Petey.”
The first thing I noticed was the movie’s artstyle. It gives a cartoony and colorful vibe similar to movies like “Spider Man: Into the Spiderverse,” “Puss and boots: the Last Wish” and “The Wild Robot.” There are cartoony letters, drawn movement effects and hints of the books everywhere within the art. From the child-like drawn backgrounds and the spelling of buildings, to the cartoony movements and instances where characters say words like “cerealistly” instead of “seriously,” it felt like it was straight from the books.
The main cast and plot of the first three books were the same. The first three books contain many of Petey’s inventions featured in the movie, including 80-Hexotron Droidformigon (80-HD), Vacuum, Robo-bee 2000 and the classic Bomb used in the beginning of the movie to turn Officer Knight and Greg the Dog into Dog Man.
The backstory for Petey and Lil Petey was explored more emotionally, especially toward the end of the movie. In the past, Petey had a deadbeat dad who wasn’t very involved in his life. This led to Petey becoming the most evil cat in Ohkay City. This past also led to Petey treating his clone, Lil Petey, the same way by abandoning him. This was the closest real-world connection the childish movie made that could connect with the more mature members of the audience.
One thing I didn’t enjoy as much, though, was the fast pace of the movie. It was to the point where even looking at your phone for a second could confuse the audience.
Still, the fast-paced action and scenes of the movie keeps the viewer engaged. Each small reference, gag or joke was appealing. The scenes containing 2D backgrounds and 3D characters, along with the absolutely beautiful and smooth transitions, made my jaw drop.
The “Dog Man” movie was such a great watch – entertaining, comical and full of hidden treasures.
I recommend this movie to all ages, as long as they can keep up with the face paced style.
This movie was artistically beautiful, had a high-quality animation style and is a portrayal of the books on the dot.
