Dog Man (dir. Peter Hastings)

By: Adam Freed

Officer Knight, a noble police officer in Ohkay City is tragically wounded in the line of duty, leaving him useless from the neck up.  In the same humorously catastrophic event, his loyal canine officer companion Greg sustains a life threatening injury to every part of his body from the neck down.  It doesn’t take much to see the medical logic in combining the two partners into one unstoppable super cop, aptly known as Dog Man.  Based on the runaway hit series of children’s graphic novels by author Dav Pilkey, Dog Man is an intentionally crudely animated cops and robbers adventure directed by Peter Hastings (Animaniacs).  The imaginative playfulness that has converted Pilkey’s illustrated novels into grade school gold (13 books and counting) seems to only partially translate to the screen, where leaving large narrative chunks of the central plot to the reader’s imagination is no longer an option.

While Dog Man may not bark all of the right notes, it certainly captures the integrity and voice of Pilkey’s imagination as it pertains to central casting.  What makes the half human, half canine such an interesting character is that post surgery, the protagonist has a dog’s head and therefore doesn’t have the ability to speak.  This fact leaves plenty of room for the film’s supporting vocal cast to pick up the slack, starting with primary antagonist Petey, an evil cat voiced by a wonderful Pete Davidson (Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Suicide Squad).  The former SNL icon seems to understand the assignment perfectly, ratcheting up the nefarious camp to levels that match the ridiculousness of the film’s plot.  Joining Davidson in the voiceover booth is Lil Rel Howery (Get Out, Free Guy), who embodies Chief, a Dog Man ally doing everything he can to preserve the career of the city’s greatest police officer while an overbearing mayor comedically breathes down his crudely animated back.  Chief’s love interest is Ohkay City News street reporter Sarah Hatoff, voiced by an underutilized Isla Fisher.  There is very little to Hastings’ crime fighting story that elevates above dog chase cat, cat chase dog.  The inclusion of a morally superior Petey clone offers a gentle and humorous echo of Dr. Evil’s “Mini-Me” of late 1990’s Austin Powers fame.    

Dog Man certainly skews to younger elementary audiences as it is incredibly safe, non violent and wholesomely playful.  Children 10 and up may feel the film operates comedically beneath them as there are only a small handful of jokes that even begin to press the boundaries of the film’s PG rating.  Peter Hastings has done a serviceable job in converting the story of a half dog half man into something that young families are likely to seek out as a weekend respite from winter’s grasp.  Dog Man renders itself unmemorable as it alchemizes a clumsy plot with far too narrow a window of comedic intrigue, two facts that may make even the cuteness of the animated hero feel less than the sum of its combined parts.

Target Score: 5.5/10 - There is no denying that Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man series of children’s graphic novels has struck a comedic chord with an army of emerging readers.  Peter Hastings’ screen adaptation is far less attractive of a film, despite boasting strong vocal performances from Pete Davidson and Lil Rel Howery.