Dog Man movie review & film summary (2025) – Roger Ebert

ReviewsTrue silliness is one of the most delightful forms of humor and one of the most difficult, as delicate as a soap bubble. It’s not enough to be fancifully random; silly humor has to come from a place of joy with a sprinkle of wit. “Dog Man,” based on Dav Pilkey’s popular series of graphic novels for kids, is sublimely silly, a mixture of comedy, action, and heart, all done with such high spirits it seems effortless. Peter Hastings, who worked with Pilkey on “Captain Underpants” for television, directed and co-wrote the screenplay. They are experts at the kind of delirious silliness that hits the spot for both children and adults. Hastings describes the appeal of Pilkey’s work as “playful anarchy,” but they both know we want to see the good guys save the day. The bright, lively visual style matches the tone of the story, with an amusing combination of realistic textures and dimensional shapes for Dog Man’s head and simplified, cartoonish lines to indicate his facial expressions. The humor balances nicely between goofy jokes for kids and references for adults, who will appreciate the signs on the buildings and the references to classics like “Apocalypse Now.”Following a “Bad Guys” short film about a hilarious series of catastrophes as they try to get to a meeting with their parole office, we enter Ohkay City. Officer Knight and his trusty canine sidekick Greg are fighting crime and saving lives until a bomb goes off, critically injuring them both. In the operating room, a nurse (Maggie Wheeler, Janice from “Friends”) points out that the best way to preserve them both is to attach the dog’s head to the man’s body. Hastings and Pilkey are so effective at creating the goofy world of this story that this idea almost seems not only plausible but logical. Dog Man (as the cop is now known, with howls and barks voiced by Hastings) learns that his girlfriend has left him and their house is being sold, so he moves to a small cottage. Like the TARDIS, it’s larger on the inside. Dog Man is more dog than man, initially trying to enter the house via the dog door and unable to resist chasing and retrieving a ball. The police chief (Lil Rel Howery), who has a crush on the local television news reporter (Isla Fisher as Sarah), is jealous of the attention Dog Man gets for his skill at capturing criminals. But they need to stop Petey (Pete Davidson, having a blast), “the world’s most evilest cat,” whose lair is helpfully identified with a huge sign notifying everyone that it is a Secret Lab. The Chief reluctantly tells Dog Man to capture Petey, “even if it takes a montage.” So a montage of captures and escapes is just what we get. And then, just to get both children and parents in their most tender feelings, Petey decides what he needs is a clone of himself. He orders a clone machine, plucks off one of his whiskers, and creates another Petey—except that this one is a child and not at all evil. All Petey can think of for a name is Li’l Petey (Lucas Hopkins Calderon), but this version is not evil. He is affectionate and curious. This gives us a chance to see Petey frustrated and then, through the transformational power of loving and being loved, we see him learning what it means to of care about—and be responsible for—someone else.That means we need an even “most eviler” villain, and it turns out to be a re-animated fish named Flippy, with that most important ingredient for a true movie villain, an English accent, courtesy of Ricky Gervais. The jokes come fast enough to benefit from repeat viewings. There’s a sly reference to the prison being run by the Chief’s brother (and a glimpse of popular Dog Man character Big Jim), a call-out to kids like the ADHD and dyslexic Pilkey who “got kicked out of class and drew comics instead,” a G-rated version of “Die Hard“’s most famous catchphrase, and a guy whose only job is to answer the “life’s not fair” phone. The action, including a fight between animated buildings, is a good mix of exciting and silly. There are some excellent topics for family discussion, like Petey’s question, “How come I made you, but you’re not like me?” and whether life is fair to the way different worldviews, Dog Man’s “unicorns, rainbows, and lollipops” optimism and Petey’s fear and anger, drive people’s behavior. There are 13 more books (so far) in the series. I’m looking forward to what comes next.Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dog-man-movie-review-2025