Dog Man (2025) Universal/Comedy-Adventure RT: 89 minutes Rated PG (some action and rude humor) Director: Peter Hastings Screenplay: Peter Hastings Music: Tom Howe Release date: January 31, 2025 (US) Cast: Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Lucas Hopkins Calderon, Ricky Gervais, Billy Boyd, Stephen Root, Poppy Liu, Cheri Oteri, Peter Hastings, Rahnuma Panthaky, Maggie Wheeler, Luenell, Melissa Villasenor, Laraine Newman, Kate Micucci, Brian Hopkins.
Rating: ***
I didn’t grow up with the Captain Underpants graphic novels. They came along long after I outgrew children’s lit. I saw the first movie Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie back when it came out in 2017. I liked it a lot. It was zany and silly. I didn’t know Dog Man was a spin-off until one of the managers at my multiplex of choice told me. He loved Dav Pilkey’s books growing up. He still does. He says he can’t wait to check out the movie. I think he’s going to love it. Me, I liked it.
Written and directed by Peter Hastings, Dog Man starts off by explaining how the title character came to be. While trying to apprehend criminal cat Petey (Davidson, SNL), a human cop and his canine partner try and fail to defuse a bomb. Due to the nature of their injuries, it’s determined that the only way to save them both is to surgically attach the dog’s head to the man’s body. Thus, Dog Man is born. He proceeds to become a celebrity crimefighter much to the aggravation of his grumpy CO (Howery, Get Out).
Petey proves to be a real challenge. Every time Dog Man puts him in Cat Jail, he manages to escape. The mayor of Ohkay City (Oteri, SNL) orders the Chief to take Dog Man off the case. The cop, who lost his home and girlfriend after the explosion, feels more alone than ever.
Meanwhile, Petey comes to the realization that if he’s going to defeat Dog Man, he’s going to need someone like him to help. He orders a cloning machine to create another him. Instead, he ends up with a kitten who’s the complete opposite of him. Li’l Petey (Calderon) isn’t a villain; he’s an innocent child who knows only love and goodness. What’s a bad guy to do?
Petey comes up with a new plan for world domination. This one involves reviving a dead fish named Flippy (Gervais, The Office) who, in life, was a powerful telekinetic supervillain. This turns out to be a BIG mistake, one that necessitates hero and villain to work together to save their city from a greater threat.
We’re living in uncertain times right now. It’s actually scary out there. Dog Man came along at just the right time. It’s not going to change the world or how we think, but it serves as a nice two-hour escape from all the madness out there. It’s not just the movie; it’s the presentation. It starts with a cartoon short starring “The Bad Guys” from the 2022 film (the sequel comes out in August). In it, they cause chaos as they try to get to a meeting with their parole officer on time. This is how Disney used to do it when I was a kid. They gave us a short before the main feature. It’s nice to see this tradition brought back.
As for the film itself, Dog Man is pretty good. It’s fast, funny, vibrant and energetic. The joke setting is on rapid fire. It has a lot of good sight gags and clever references for adults including cleaned-up variations of famous lines from Aliens and Die Hard. Admittedly, it can be exhausting, but it won’t faze the kids. They’ll be so hopped up on sugar (they do love their ICEE drinks!); it’ll take more than that to bring them down. Thankfully, Hastings balances things out by allowing Dog Man to show its sweet side. It has something to say about the importance of family with Petey finding his paternal side with Li’l Petey despite not having a positive male role model when he was growing up.
The animation in Dog Man is colorful and textured. It looks just like the illustrations in the graphic novels. It pulsates with life and energy. It’s a welcome break from commonplace computer-animation. There’s plenty of action including a climax in which buildings come to life to crush the heroes. It’s really a sight to behold. I’d even say Dog Man is a work of art.
The voice talents, which include Isla Fisher (Strays) as reporter Sarah Hatoff, do a fine job. Hastings provides the dog noises for the main character. He sounds like the real thing as opposed to a human imitating a dog. Davidson is good as Petey the evil cat. He sounds like he’s having a ball. Howery nearly steals the shows as Dog Man’s exasperated boss. He does heroic things too. Why doesn’t anybody acknowledge it? Why does everybody pay more attention to the dog-human hybrid? Gervais is perfect as Flippy the fish fatale. A villain sounds more villainous with a British accent, does he not?
I know this isn’t what Disney enthusiasts want to hear, but I had more fun with Dog Man than either Moana 2 or Mufasa. They were fine, but Dog Man is next level stuff. I wouldn’t say it’s great, but I’d definitely say it’s good. It sure is different from other animated films. Fans of the books are going to love it. Non-fans (meaning those unfamiliar) will like it too. I know I did.
