After eight years of waiting, Dav Pilkey, author of the Captain Underpants, Last Kids on Earth and notably the Dog Man comic book series makes a massive comeback with another film that has had an impact on my childhood. I am a big fan of the Dog Man books, so when I saw the trailer for the Dog Man movie, I was ecstatic.
The movie was based on the third book where lil Petey was introduced. I think that the grandpa showing up didn’t really add anything to the plot of the movie, but he did add a heartwarming talk with Petey and lil Petey, so even that has positives.
I also love how well they transitioned the characters from 2D to 3D. The character that I felt was going to be a bit troubling was lil Petey, but his design was not bad. The movie has amazing animation. It feels like they brought the book to life using a lower frame rate, mixing the 2D elements with the 3D just like in other films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. The voice acting is great from Chief voiced by Lil Rel Howery and Pete Davidson who voices Petey.
The story was simple, but it served its purpose to give the characters an adventure. Petey creates a clone of himself, thinking it will be evil and rotten to the core, but instead, it comes out a good-hearted, little kitty named lil Petey. Later on, Petey steals the chief’s fish and then turns him evil. Petey then tells Flippy the evil fish to destroy do-goodies. Since lil Petey is a do-goodie Flippy targets him so Dog Man and Petey team up to stop Flippy.
This movie is phenomenal as it represents the book and comic series very well. I strongly recommend this movie as not only a family exclusive experience, but as a movie to go out and enjoy with a couple of friends.