'PAW Patrol: The Movie' Review
G
Runtime: 1 Hr and 28 Minutes
Production Companies: Spin Master Entertainment, Nickelodeon Movies
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Director: Cal Brunker
Writer: Cal Brunker, Bob Barlen, Billy Frolick
Cast: Iain Armitage, Marsai Martin, Ron Pardo, Yara Shahidi, Will Brisbin, Lilly Bartlam, Kingsley Marshall, Keegan Hedley, Jimmy Kimmel, Randall Park, Dax Shepard
Release Date: August 20, 2021
In Theaters And Paramount+
When their biggest rival, Humdinger, becomes Mayor of nearby Adventure City and starts wreaking havoc, Ryder and everyone’s favorite heroic pups kick into high gear to face the challenge head-on. While one pup must face his past in Adventure City, the team finds help from a new ally, the savvy dachshund Liberty. Together, armed with exciting new gadgets and gear, the PAW Patrol fights to save the citizens of Adventure City!
For over eight years (and eight seasons), Nick Jr.’s long-running CGI animated series Paw Patrol has been a worldwide phenomenon amongst pre-school kids. Paw Patrol is to Nick Jr. what Spongebob Squarepants is to Nickelodeon. The series blew up so quickly that not even Dora the Explorer — which was inescapable for my generation — was able to compete. So, the only logical next step for 10-year-old Ryder and his team of first-responding pups was to hit the big screen in a full-length animated adventure. As someone who is far out of the age range of this movie’s demographic, unfamiliar with this franchise, and somehow ended up being the youngest audience member of my press screening (seriously, there were no kids at the screening. Just me and a bunch of older critics), I got bit by a nostalgia bug.
The show’s CGI quality gets a massive improvement that puts its money where its mouth is. Once again, Montreal-based studio Mikros Animation — the same studio that did animation services on Sponge On the Run — provides cinematic animation that makes this feel like a massive production too big for TV. Much like many animated productions within the past year, the team at Mikros did all of this work remotely during the pandemic, for they were only in the pre-visualization stage prior to 2020’s shutdown, and the final result is enough to blow your toddler’s mind. There’s a vast amount of detailing across the board, from the central pup designs to the backgrounds of Adventure City. Ryder, Chase, Rubble, Skye, and the rest of the Paw Patrol team are given realistic textures, including hair and fur. The film is candy-colored and bright but it never comes across as distracting, for there’s great detail in other technical departments, such as shadows and lighting. To an extent, you get some J.J. Abrams-type lens flares to make the urbanized city the pups must save bustle with life. I’m curious about how much money was spent on the production because it has more of a cinematic quality that’s effective and at times is strikingly beautiful, especially regarding the production design. There’s great attention to detail within each set, both interior and exterior, of Adventure City where backgrounds textures are crisp and detailed to give weight to the size and scale of the location.
The film’s central plot involves the Paw Patrol’s arch-nemesis Humdinger (Ron Pardo), who unexpectedly becomes the mayor of Adventure Bay’s neighboring town, Adventure City –– the Manhattan to their Long Island, if you will. When his narcissistic negligence begins to put the citizens’ safety at risk, (you know, as a good ol’ American politician does), street-savvy super-fan dachshund Liberty (Marsai Martin, who is this movie’s MVP) phones in the Paw Patrol and requests their assistance. Ryder (Will Brisbin) and his Paw Patrol team gear up to head to the city, but reluctant police pup Chase (Iain Armitage) isn’t too keen on the trip, for he has traumatic memories of being abandoned in the city. As they try to undo Humdinger’s messes, the team, especially Chase, must learn the true meaning of heroism.
Because this was my introduction to the franchise, I quickly began to see the appeal of the show. You have these cute dogs as first responders who use wit, teamwork, and compassion to save the day. Plus, they’re a fine replacement for government officials. The film’s cold open involves an action set-piece where a truck driver (Tyler Perry) and his truck are dangling over a bridge and as he’s saying, “Call the police and the fire department,” an onlooker below him goes, “We don’t have those. We got the Paw Patrol.” There’s even a funny self-aware joke about how they get funding strictly from merchandise that pays for their new and improved headquarters.
I’m just an old fart speaking my part since, once again, my screening had no kids in it, but it did give me the nostalgic kick of being a kid again and watching feature-length films based on the shows I loved growing up, like Rugrats in Paris or Elmo in Grouchland. While they were extensions of their series, there was effort and love put into the production and story to help young audiences and their families bond. Paw Patrol: The Movie knows its demographic and never does it stray from its identity. Director Cal Brunker shows love to the franchise by incorporating large-scaled, well-choreographed action set pieces that are exciting in order to get the kiddies at the edge of their seat. The narrative’s emotional core is heavily geared on Chase’s post-traumatic stress from turning to a city he dreads and has bad memories of. So during these procedures where the pups have to save civilians from various situations, Chase’s anxiety and stress get the best of him. You might ask, “Why are they including this kind of theme in Paw Patrol?” but then I remembered kids are more vocal about their emotions these days and they also experience anxiety. The way it’s handled in this film doesn’t speak down to kids and provides genuine emotions with care. Apart from that, the screenplay by Billy Frolick, Cal Brunker, and Bob Barlen includes some clever lines of dialogue that will catch you off guard while staying earnest and true to its source material without making any juvenile jokes. This is for a single-digit-age audience, but has enough wit and heart to entertain the parents too.
While the production design of the film is good enough to rival other animation studios, there are areas in the animation that need some fine-tuning. The movement feels slower-paced given how energetic the source series is. The character models of the civilians are bland and repetitive, because you know animation is costly and you gotta reuse assets, but the background characters sometimes have such dead-eyed expressions that are a bit eerie… like a cutscene from a PS3-era game. Yes, I know kids aren’t gonna notice this stuff. Only animation heads like me are gonna catch this, but the targeted demographic are surely going to eat it up.
Because this franchise has such a wide roster of characters, I know the kids are gonna be a bit bummed that their lesser-known pups don't get enough screen time. They all get a moment to shine, of course, but if they’re not a Chase, Rubble, Liberty, or even Skye fan, your kid is definitely gonna be disappointed. But it’s ok because they always have merchandise to fall back on. During the scenes where the new Patrol vehicles are transforming, you can just feel the power of merchandising get strong. That being said, it will look cool for your kid cause I know it would’ve blown my mind as a four-year-old. I grew up as a Hot Wheels and Matchbox person, so I get the commercialized appeal.
All in all, Paw Patrol: The Movie is a ton of fun for young kids and their families, whether you have the option of seeing it on the big screen or on Paramount+ for a movie night, you and your young ones will surely have a good time with this heartfelt and fun family film.
