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Join UsStar Cast: Peter Davidson, Peter Hastings, Lil Rey Howery, Isla Fisher, Ricky Gervais.
Director: Peter Hastings
What’s Good: The quality of the animation is superb, and the overall character designs and worldbuilding are top-notch.
What’s Bad: The film is too predictable for adults, but kids will definitely see no problem with it.
Loo Break: Dog Man is short and sweet, so there isn’t time for a break.
Watch or Not?: Watch if you have little kids at home. It is definitely one of the best options for your children.
Language: English (with subtitles).
Available On: Theaters, VOD
Runtime: 89 Minutes.
User Rating:
Opening:
The realm of animation is often dominated by the same names, Disney, DreamWorks, and most recently, Illumination, and so when new faces appear in the scene and can compete with the big boys in the business, it is always a welcome sight. Dog Man is still part of DreamWorks, but it presents a new set of characters that might be the start of a new franchise on the screen, and with a first installment as strong as this one is, the future of the Dog Man franchise seems to be bright.
Dog Man Movie Review: Script Analysis
Writer and director Peter Hastings understands what needs to be done to entertain both kids and the parents who will accompany those kids to cinemas or watch with them at home. The result is a film that manages to be both entertaining, funny, and also a bit predictable. But this will only hurt adults who are watching the movie because, in general, this serves as a great introduction to kids to the detective genre.
The film presents a mystery, a villain, a crime, and although it might seem a bit dark for kids at times, the premise just moves along, and it never crosses the line, remaining intelligent all the way through. Yes, the twists and turns can be seen a mile away, but everything fits logically, or at least within the confines of the film’s logic, so it will end up losing very few people in the process. The mystery is simple enough, and kids will be able to fit the pieces together as they watch the film.
The characters are also very well drawn in terms of personality and function within the story. Although there are many, each gets the opportunity to shine and become a memorable character. Kids and parents will definitely develop favorite ones as the film introduces them all. The characters also have this very bizarre sense of humor that is quite popular nowadays in TV shows for kids, so it feels very modern.
As the film progresses, the plot becomes more and more unhinged, but this raises the stakes. Because the entire worldbuilding is done quite strongly, even the most outrageous situations feel like they fit right into this world. So props to the writing team for allowing the film to go wild, but never by losing its own identity. In fact, the imagination and the amount of crazy things happening at once also make for a very intriguing film, as you are just waiting to see what the film will throw at you next.
Dog Man Movie Review: Star Performance
Voice acting is incredibly important in an animated film, and Dog Man definitely has some of it, but not all. Hastings plays the main character, Dog Man, and he definitely knows what he needs in order to make the character appealing. However, when it comes to other characters, it might be that the actors or the direction they received during their recording session were not the best. Pete Davidson, who plays Petey, another of the main characters, fares the worst when it comes to delivering his lines properly.
It is not that Davidson is doing a bad job. It is just that it could have been better and more natural. Meanwhile, Ricky Gervais stood out for me as Flippy, a bizarre fish with mind powers. Gervais is just hilarious, and his delivery is on point. The rest of the cast does it well, but I can’t say they really stand out as amazing voice actors. They only do their job solid enough to make the film work as it should.
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Dog Man Movie Review: Direction, Music
When it comes to direction and the overall production of the film, it is insane to think this film only had a $40 million production budget, especially when you see it and realize how good it looks. The character design and art design definitely push the visual fidelity to another level, proving that animated films need more of a visual style than rendering power. It is quite impressive and makes the movie feel theater-worthy.
The score composed by Tom Howe also comes across as strong, especially during the action sequences, which are solid for a film that aims at kids as its primary audience. It shows that everyone working on the film knew they had to be as efficient as possible, sticking to their vision for the film and experimenting with another opportunity.
Dog Man Movie Review: The Last Word
Dog Man is definitely a surprise, not only because of its production budget but also because the film is better than most of the stuff we see on TV and even in cinemas. The film proves you don’t need hundreds of millions of dollars to make a film worthy of being seen in theaters, and this one will definitely have a life outside the cinema screen, with many kids watching the film over and over again in the upcoming years.
Dog Man Trailer
Dog Man released on 11th April, 2025.
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