Dog Man Review

Directed By: Peter Hastings
Written By: Peter Hastings and Dav Pilkey
Runtime: 94 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG for some action and rude humor.

Peter Hastings – Dog Man/Greg
Petey – Pete Davidson
Lil Rel Howery – Chief
Ricky Gervais – Flippy the Fish
Lucas Hopkins – Li’l Petey
Isla Fisher – Sarah Hatoff
Billy Boyd – Seamus
Luenell – Milly
Poppy Liu – Butler
Stephen Root – Grampa

DreamWorks Animation and director Peter Hastings bring the world of Dav Pilkey to life in the new CG-animated feature Dog Man. Although the film is not without its imaginative charm, the slapdash, incoherent plot fails to coalesce into a more meaningful animated experience. However, it’s still one that will surely entertain young children.

Based on Pilkey’s children’s graphic novel series of the same name, the story follows police officer Knight and his dog Greg (Hastings), who are critically wounded while pursuing Petey (Davidson), the evil talking cat who wants to take over the world. The doctors devise a method to “save” Officer Knight by sewing Greg’s head onto Officer Knight’s body, creating the new superhero cop, Dog Man (Hastings again). He’s half-man, half-dog, but all hero. Unfortunately, he doesn’t star in a good movie.

With his newfound human body, Dog Man halts Petey’s schemes. However, Petey easily breaks out of prison after all of his failed attempts, angering the mayor and forcing Dog Man’s superior officer, the Chief (Lil Rel Howery), to throw Dog Man off the case. Frustrated by his past failures, Petey seeks to clone himself to double his brain power to defeat Dog Man. Instead, he only creates an innocent kitten clone of himself, Li’l Petey (Hopkins), who views Petey as his papa. Subsequently, Petey abandons the kitten, not wanting to take care of him. Instead, Petey devises a new scheme to defeat Dog Man by seeking to revive Flippy the Fish (Gervais) and rebuilding him as an evil mecha-fish who wants to destroy all do-gooders. That fails, and the plot just meanders from there. Later, Dog Man befriends Li’l Petey and will have to save the day.

While Dog Man takes place in a wacky world resembling a childlike imagination, the plot still should make some sense. Additionally, although the film is called Dog Man, Hastings appears far more interested in the character arc of the supervillain, Petey, who rejects his clone “son” at first, but ultimately, must learn the responsibility of fatherhood. Unfortunately, the plot follows no internal logic. Petey hates and rejects Li’l Petey, abandoning him on the street, which enables Dog Man to befriend and re-home Li’l Petey. Later on, Petey decides to take back Li’l Petey for no explicable reason, other than that the plot demands it. It’s still difficult to learn how to like Petey after seeing him abandon a helpless kitten.

The plot horrendously meanders and hobbles until Flippy the Fish (Gervais) emerges as the film’s chief villain. The narrative plays out in a herky-jerky method, mainly focusing on character gags and silly slapstick. The film is full of jokes, but none of them are particularly funny. That said, there’s enough activity and silliness that kids will likely stay entertained throughout the experience and find more to like about Dog Man than more discerning adults.

The premise sounds like something out of a Cronenberg body-horror movie, but the film shies away from those aspects. The narrative never asks the ethical questions about sewing a dog’s head onto a man’s body. The implication is that Officer Knight was brain-dead from the explosion that injured him and Greg, but the film shows Officer Knight visibly reaching out and embracing Greg in his hospital bed. So, was Greg brain-dead? Did the doctors simply toss Officer Knight’s head in the trash, or did they cremate the head and give the ashes to his girlfriend? The reporter Elizabeth Hatoff says the doctors “saved” Officer Knight by turning him into Dog Man, even though that doesn’t come off like saving a person. Apparently, Pilkey, the original author, operates from the idea that a human being is not classified as “clinically” dead” until their heart stops.

The problem is the film plays such ideas as purely light and silly kids’ movie fun, but it’s hard to disregard how awful and horrific this sounds, both for the poor dog and Officer Knight. Hastings and Pilkey’s script further downplays Dog Man’s story by focusing more on Petey and his antics with Li’l Petey. The script simply bops along from scene to scene, making Dog Man a rather vapid, underwhelming animated experience.

Dog Man does bring an imaginative, childlike presentation to its overall presentation. Hastings and Pilkey bring the world to life through the lens of a wide-eyed innocence and sense of wonder. However, like a child’s developing mind, the film is wild and underdeveloped. Still, that might make Dog Man a more entertaining experience for younger audiences.

4.0

The final score: review Poor

The 411

As an animated movie, director and co-writer Peter Hastings infuses Dog Man with childlike imagination and wonder. Unfortunately, the plot horrendously meanders and fails to coalesce into anything significantly meaningful and exciting. The film features copious amounts of gags and jokes, but none of them are genuinely funny. The plot loses focus and interest in Dog Man at the midway point, instead focusing more on Petey, who is not particularly likable. That said, there's enough activity and zaniness that kids will likely enjoy and find entertaining. Ultimately, outside of the elements of body horror, the material plays it fairly kid-appropriate. There's a rather strong message of Petey learning about the responsibilities of fatherhood through Li'l Petey, whom small children will likely identify with and love. Dog Man is a film that barks loudly but has little bite.