11 April,2025 02:29 PM IST | Mumbai | Johnson Thomas
Dogman review
Downright silly and toonish, this animation adventure is targeted at the kids and it works. Delicate humor, fancifully random and outrageously unbelievable, this film could be a fun outing even for the morose and humorless. The silly humor is a joy to behold and there's no two ways about that.
"Dog Man," based on Dav Pilkey's popular series of graphic novels for kids, has comedy, action, and a strong dose of heart. Peter Hastings, a past expert at unrestrained silliness, directed and co-wrote the screenplay which is outrageously fanciful and harebrained.
When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born. Officer Knight and his trusty canine sidekick Greg were fighting crime and saving lives until a bomb went off, critically injuring them both. In the operating room, a nurse (Maggie Wheeler) presents the life saving solution of attaching the dog's head to the man's body. In the goofy world of this story this idea doesn't seem implausible at all.
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Obviously, with the head of a dog and body of a man, Dog Man performs both his animalistic and human duties - sworn to protect and serve, fetch, sit, roll over and lick those he adores. Dog Man, after resuming his duties, in an effort to impress his Chief, must stop the pretty evil plots of feline super villain Petey the Cat.
Dog Man tries to enter the house via the dog door and is unable to resist chasing and retrieving a ball. The police chief (Lil Rel Howery), who has a crush on the local television news reporter Sarah(Isla Fisher), is jealous of the attention Dog Man receives but the need to stop Petey (Pete Davidson), "the world's most evilest cat," supersedes everything. The Chief reluctantly assigns the task of capturing Petey to Dog Man. Thereafter there's a surfeit of montage with Dog Man capturing Petey and Petey escaping, time and again.
The tone is sprightly and engaging and the visual style is bright, lively and appealing. The facial expressions match the toonish nature of this telling. The humor is both child and adult friendly. There is goofy, slapstick engagement for kids and references to movies for adults.
The animation is consistently delightful. The visual gags and wildly imaginative elements keep you entertained. Voice talents like Isla Fisher, Stephen Root, Laraine Newman, Cheri Oteri, Melissa Villaseñor, and Kate Micucci lend energy and verve to the by play. This is a fun ride, well worth the price of a pricey ticket.
