Yep, watching the Dog Man movie is definitely the best thing to do on a Sunday night with friends when trying to relieve some stress before the APUSH test. It was pretty sad to see that we were nearly the only three in the movie theater, and the theater looked so abandoned that when we walked out, we stopped and thought we were playing a backrooms game. It felt so weird that we thought for a minute that we had stepped into the wrong theater when they started playing a short for The Bad Guys 2. 

At least the movie itself was the opposite of the atmosphere in the theater. The reason we went was, of course, that we used to read the books as kids when the teacher told us it was independent reading time. We saw the trailers and got hit with a wrecking ball of nostalgia.

The Dog Man movie is made by DreamWorks and the same team behind the Captain Underpants movie, also based on a book series that is still very popular in elementary schools. As a graphic novel made for kids, Dog Man excels in what it is trying to do: be a silly comic book superhero epic drawn up by 4th graders. 

As a movie, if you never read the books as a kid, you’re in for the most insane premise you’d ever see in a movie, executed with a very lively animation style.

Looking at this movie feels like medicine for the eyes. The claymation approach was the perfect choice for a concept as wacky as Dog Man. Many recent animated movies have been taking approaches similar to Spider-Verse’s 3D combined with 2D style of movement and looks, which mimics its comic book origins. 

I would not call Dog Man a Spider-Verseclone because it does it differently and in a way that makes sense for what it’s based on. I love the stop-motion and the low frame rate the characters have. I love the adjusted depth of field to make it seem like it was filmed on an actual miniature claymation set. I love the letters and words constantly popping above the characters’ heads. I love the 2D backgrounds when Dog Man is in a travel montage. 

It’s very flashy, but it doesn’t make it incomprehensible, as the editing is superb, and there wasn’t a single moment where I thought, “What even happened there?” I don’t have much to say on the character designs other than it looks like the graphic novel designs but in 3D. This isn’t like The Diary of a Wimpy Kid animated movies, where 3D and the simple look of the book just don’t work well together and make it look unsettling. 

The animation is easily the best aspect of the movie, and it really helps bring the fast-paced action of the book onto the big screen.

Another thing they had to get right was the humor and wacky plots the books had. Many of the best jokes from the books were the misspellings of words said by characters and the hilarious names of buildings like “That Super Awesome Science Center Ova There.” If I were to rate this movie based on its adaptation of the books, I would definitely give it around a 9/10. 

But much like the childish nature of the books, the story is all over the place. I guess it is true to the books, but even so, it kind of stumbles when you try to adapt it into a movie. It feels like there are a million different subplots happening all at once. By the time the third act came around, the movie was still introducing new plots and characters literally 2 minutes before the loud, bombastic climax. 

Sometimes it feels like Petey is the main character of the movie because he goes through the best and most clear character arc. I enjoyed the relationship he had with his cloned son, which is the main plot of the movie that felt heartfelt and genuine. 

The voice acting was honestly pretty consistently good. I surprisingly enjoyed Lil Rel Howery as the chief. His constant yelling didn’t feel overdone, and I had a nice smile when he was on screen. Pete Davidson as Petey was alright in my opinion. He did the job well, but I feel like some of the line delivery could have been done better and could have had a more wacky charm to it.

Overall, the dialogue and humor were pretty solid, the cast was nothing too special but did the job well, and the plot, much like the books, felt like multiple Saturday morning cartoon episodes smashed into one story that was made with the creative energy of movies like Into the Spider-Verse. 

My friend and I cannot remember half of the subplots that occurred, and we agreed that we will not remember anything that happens two days after seeing the movie. It is a negative that I can’t overlook, but it is done with such artistic merit, especially with the animation style and little kid humor. 

I won’t be revisiting this movie anytime soon for the story, but I might put it on if I need to cheer myself up with quality animation that accommodates an insane plot that is a combination of 6 different Cartoon Network episodes.