SYNOPSIS: In “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie,” a new animated film for kids spun off from the popular TV series about a heroic puppy search-and-rescue team, the canine heroes discover an island populated by dinosaurs. “No dino’s too big, no pup’s too small!”
CAST: Carter Young, Mckenna Grace, Terry Crews, Jennifer Hudson, Jameela Jamil, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Mckenna Grace, Ron Pardo, Lucien Duncan-Reid, and Nylan Parthipan, Bill Nye, Henry Bolan. Directed by Cal Brunker.
REVIEW: After a daring adventure to rescue a cat named Mr. Fluffy Butt from a burning yacht, the Paw Patrol finds themselves shipwrecked on what they think is a deserted island. When the clumsy Dalmatian Marshall (voice of Carter Young) tumbles down a hill, he soon finds himself face-to-face with one of the island’s many inhabitants, a dinosaur named Timmy the T-Rex.
But this isn’t Jurassic Park.
These dinosaurs are friendly, at least that’s what Rex (Hayden Chamberlain), a friendly paraplegic Bernese Mountain Dog who has been stranded on the island after falling overboard years before, says. “Dino Island is the greatest discovery in the history of the world.”
Meanwhile, the Paw Patrol’s arch-nemesis Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo), and his coterie of naught6y cats, are released from jail. “No more cheating,” he says. “No more lying! No more get rich quick schemes!” But, when he sees a news report on Dino Island, and notices a large cache of diamonds in the background, his path on the straight and narrow takes a U-turn and he heads to the island to face his old canine foes and steal as many diamonds as he can.
“Paw Patrol: Dino Island” does not cater to adult sensibilities by wedging in jokes or double entendres for the older folks à la “Shrek” or “King Fu Panda.” Instead, it’s a gently paced action adventure aimed directly at kids. So, no clever pop culture references just kid-friendly action that, as the third movie in the franchise, is bigger than anything they’ve attempted in the past.
The richness of Pixar and the playfulness of Illumination and their millions of Minions is missing in “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie.” The direction, by Cal Brunker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bob Barlen, is workmanlike, keeping their core audience, age 3 to about 8, top of mind. The result is a cute but bland movie stuffed with good messages about teamwork, helping others and perseverance, and some high-flying action but little in the way of memorable sequences.
As the “PAW Patrol” franchise enters its 66th year—that’s in dog years—it shows no signs of slowing down. A new film, “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” based on the canine first responder characters from the wildly successful Canadian kid’s show, now playing in theatres, is a big story about a small pup.
Featuring an all-star voice cast, the begins with a meteor crash in Adventure City. “It’s giving off some kind of energy,” says Ryder (Finn Lee-Epp), the leader of the PAW Patrol. The mysterious meteor imbues the PAW Patrol pups with superpowers, like super strength, elasticity, super speed and the ability to manifest fireballs. “Great, now the clumsy pup shoots fireballs out of his paws.”
For seven-year-old cockapoo Skye (Mckenna Grace), the smallest member of the newly dubbed Mighty Pups, the new powers finally levels the playing field, giving her the chance to make up in super strength what she has always lacked in confidence and size.
When Humdinger (Ron Pardo), the ex-mayor of Adventure City, and his Kitten Catastrophe Crew escapes from prison and teams with meteor expert and supervillain Victoria “Vee” Vance (Taraji P. Henson) to steal the superpowers, the Mighty Pups must fight back to save their city and possibly the world.
“When you go up against one of us, you go up against all of us,” Ryder tells Vance.
“PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” is bigger and louder than 2021’s “PAW Patrol” or the television show. Returning director Cal Brunker pumps up the action, creating a sort of Marvel movie for the preschool set. Colourful action scenes will grab kid’s attention, but the spirit of cooperation, and messages of over-coming obstacles and never judging a book by its cover, that lie at the heart of the “PAW Patrol” franchise are never far away.
Voice work from Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, Lil Rel Howery, Kristen Bell and James Marsden is solid, but Henson is having all the fun here. Her villain—don’t call her a “mad scientist”—is a blast, funny and fearless, she steals every scene she’s in.
“PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” maintains what made the TV show so appealing for kids, but also has enough gags aimed at parents to round out the experience for the whole family.
SYNOPSIS: In “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie,” a new animated film for kids spun off from the popular TV series about a heroic puppy search-and-rescue team, the canine heroes discover an island populated by dinosaurs. “No dino’s too big, no pup’s too small!”
