When criminals run rampant in the streets, the city’s finest must step up and fight for law and order. Officer Knight and his faithful dog, Greg, are two such fine law keepers.
Officer Knight may not be the sharpest tack in the box, but he’s athletic and strong. His dog Greg, however, is as bright as they come. He just can’t communicate well because he’s, you know, a dog.
Together though they make a great pair of crime stoppers. (And hey, they don’t even need a police siren, since Greg’s doggy howl attracts far more attention.) They’re the best of the best and they get the job done.
Until, that is, they don’t.
One day while giving chase to the vile villain Petey the Cat, Officer Knight and Greg accidentally set off a bomb. And PAZAW! The two find themselves in a conundrum. They’re rushed to the hospital, and the doctor proclaims that the poor officer’s head is just no good anymore. And poor Greg’s body is no good either.
All is lost … until a nurse steps up to suggest that they simply sew Greg’s head on Officer Knight’s body. Which, of course, is a brilliant idea. Greg’s smarts matched with Knight’s athleticism results in nothing less than Dog Man, a truly terrific Supa Cop!
This incredible law officer can’t talk anymore, but hey, talking is overrated. Dog Man can lick crime better than the best of ‘em. He treats baddies like a dug-up bone. He’s incredible!
Of course, villains like Petey won’t just hiss and run for cover. Petey is still scratching up insidious inventions and hairball hoodwinks. He even goes so far as to clone himself! (Though his clone, Lil Petey, is just the cutest little thing. Ahem.) Anyway, Petey the Cat is up to no good.
So, Dog Man will have to put his nose to the ground and get to do-gooding and crime-solving. I mean, after he chases a stick and a tennis ball or two.
Ruff!
The movie suggests that bad things happen to people and can impact them negatively. Now, that may not sound so positive. But Dog Man goes on to say that good choices, such as offering love and sincere friendship, can impact lonely or angry people in amazingly positive ways.
For example, Dog Man’s new dog-headed life is very lonely, since his former girlfriend left after his accident. But he finds someone he can invest in and care for—in essence, someone he can adopt—and his life takes on new purpose and joy.
In another example, Petey makes a clone of himself who is much like a son. But because of a painful past with his father, Petey can’t stand the idea of dealing with a child. However, in time he learns that past wrongs don’t need to control his present. And Lil Petey’s consistent love for his “father” not only changes Petey’s view of family but substantially shifts his perspective on good and evil, too.
One other character wrestles with wrongs from his past but finds help from a new friend. Lil Petey is also faced with the fact that some people have loving families while he doesn’t. He even watches one such family through a window. But then he comforts himself, saying, “It’ll be OK. Don’t be afraid.”
Eventually, even Petey is willing to risk himself to do the right thing and to protect his innocent young clone.
None.
After Officer Knight and Greg are stitched into Dog Man, Officer Knight’s girlfriend packs up all their things and moves to another town. And though it’s not directly stated, it’s implied that they were living together.
There is lots of thumping and comic-focused pummeling in the movie mix. Characters get slammed into walls; they drive off elevated ramps and fall off high areas. Vehicles crash and explode. A bomb goes off, and we then see Officer Knight and Greg in a hospital with bandages wrapped around their “no good” body parts.
At one point, an evil, psychokinetic evil fish named Flippy is not only replated with indestructible metal, but he’s also brought back to life with “living spray.” He turns huge buildings into lumbering, bashing and smashing constructs. And battles between a giant robot and these huge buildings cause tons of destruction, leaving half of Ohkay City in ruins. Elsewhere, someone is dangled over a sizzling volcano.
We hear a couple uses of “jeez” in the dialogue. And one person states that he would normally say that “this approach sucks … but that would be some inappropriate language.” Someone also calls out an unfinished “What the—!” We also hear, “For Pete’s sake.” One character calls another a “nincompoopsicle.”
A special spray brings a dead fish and a number of large buildings to life.
[Spoiler Warning] We find out that as a child, Petey was deserted by his father. And that caused a painful rift in his life. Later, Lil Petey takes steps to reunite Petey with his dad. But we come to realize that the selfish older cat hasn’t learned anything from his past actions. Petey sadly tells Lil Petey, “Some people just won’t change.”
For his part, Petey initially hates the idea of taking care of a “son.” “I want my money back! I want my life back!” he cries. But gradually, he realizes that he was wrong. And when he receives an “Undo” button for his clone machine, Petey throws it away. Even though he had told Lil Petey that the world was rotten and full of terrible things, Petey changes his tune and tells the little cat: “The world can’t be rotten, because you’re in it.”
Someone steals all of the worldly possessions of a character who trusted him.
There are a number of toilet-humor gags and dog-poo punchlines. For example, Petey creates a dog-scaring invention called the Butt-Sniffer 2000. Etc.
Every once in a while, a kids’ movie offers families some fare they can really sink their teeth into. Dog Man—based on the expansive Dog Man children’s book series by Dav Pilkey—is one such cinematic chew toy. Mostly.
Yeah, there’s quite a bit of potty humor in the overall mix. But it’s the silly, dog-sniffing-and-licking kind of giggles, not the oh-yuck-that’s-super-gross kind.
Other than that, this is a fast-paced and goofy romp that’s all over the place with its zany humor. Parents will definitely roll their eyes at some of the punchlines that have their tykes just rolling with guffaws. But every so often they’ll even find themselves caught by surprise and laughing out loud themselves.
On top of that, this pic has some very solid things to say about the life-transforming nature of family love. And it takes the time to suggest that an earnest offer of friendship can go a long way toward melting bitter feelings of the past.
Oh, and for those dad joke-loving fathers, this movie even answers that age-old question: What’s the difference between a man and a dog?
A man wears trousers, a dog pants.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
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