Unleashed Adventure or Wildly Unhinged

The creator of Dog Man (the books) was born about an hour from where we live. Dav Pilkey, Jr. also created the series Captain Underpants as well as the Dumb Bunnies series. It should be noted that the Dog Man series is a spin-off of the Captain Underpants books. While he has a particular way of writing that some find offensive due to misspellings and potty humor, we have never read any of the books. So for the purposes of my Dog Man Christian Movie Review, I focus solely on the film and not on the books at all.

Dog Man movie

DOG MAN CHRISTIAN MOVIE REVIEW SYNOPSIS

Movie Studio Synopsis:

Part dog. Part man. All hero

From DreamWorks Animation-creators of the beloved blockbuster franchises Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and The Boss Baby–comes the canine-crime-fighting film adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s New York Times bestselling literary phenomenon: Dog Man.

When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born. Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve–and fetch, sit and roll over.

As Dog Man embraces his new identity and strives to impress his Chief, he must stop the petty evil plots of feline supervillain Petey the Cat. Petey’s latest plan is to clone himself, creating the kitten Lil Pwetey, to double his ability to do crime stuff. Things get complicated though, when Lil Petey forges an unexpected bond with Dog Man.

Petey from Dog Man movie

My Synopsis:

Police Officer Greg and his police dog are seriously injured during an explosion. In fact, dog has a injured body and Greg has an injured head. Obviously, the only solution is to attach Dog’s head to Greg’s body creating Dog Man. Since Dog Man’s mission is to apprehend evil villain, Petey the Cat, he does so with the skill of a police officer and the instincts of a dog. No matter how many times Petey is arrested by Dog Man, Petey manages to escape jail. To catch Officer Dog Man, Petey decides to clone himself and creates Lil Petey (who is adorable and kind and good). Petey kicks Lil Petey out on the streets and Dog Man takes in Lil Petey. Is there anything worse than your nemesis raising your offspring? So Petey vows revenge.

What Parents Want to Know – Dog Man Christian Movie Review

Language:

While there is no foul language, there is some crude language and calling names. Suckers is used several times, as well as sucks. Someone says ding-dongs in reference to other people.

Other phrases and words used include: shut it (telling someone to be quiet), losers, jerk, fatty fish face, and jeez. Someone says, “What the _____,” and the sentence is unfinished. There is also the phrase, “For Pete’s sake.”

Additionally, a machine is called the Butt Sniffer 2000.

Violence:

There is considerable animated violence. In the beginning of the film, Greg (the police man) and Dog are driving in a police car. They drive over things, eat while driving, and are just reckless. The movie has bombs, an evil cat (Petey), a yelling police chief, accidents, arrests, and more. Most of the violence is of the slapstick variety, but it is almost constant.

A spray is used that brings a dead fish back to life.

Adult Content and Other Content:

It is implied that a non-married couple are living together. They are only shown together in a photo, but when Dog Man returns to the house, it is empty, and he is sad.

Additionally, as a child, a character was abandoned by his father. This caused trauma and as an adult, the character is now evil.

Positive Content:

The evil villain reforms his ways. Additionally, the character says he is mean and selfish, but later is shown to be caring and loving. In fact, he says, “This world has a lot of problems, but it can never be a horrible place because you’re in it.” In the end, love has transformative powers.

Sarah Hatoff as a news reporter in Dog Man Movie

My Viewing Recommendations – Dog Man Christian Movie Review

Honestly, I didn’t have high hopes for Dog Man, and my expectations didn’t fail me. This is a ho-hum movie that will entertain children, but it is too disjointed with many different subplots. Additionally, the amount of screaming in the film irritated me. If you have read any of my reviews before, this is a pet peeve of mine. Screaming is lazy and a way to avoid any real dialogue in a film. (For example, Despicable Me 4 or Over the Hedge). And if you have a child that imitates movies, screaming gets old fast.

Overall, I would recommend this film for ages 5-6 and up. However, be aware that if you decide to read the books, there is LGBTQ+ representation in the Captain Underpants book. A male character, Harold, marries his male partner in Captain Underpants. While Harold is in jail, he writes a comic book entitled Dog Man, and that is how the spin-off series gets its start.

About the Movie:

Rating: PG for some action and rude humor

Release Date: January 31, 2025

Runtime: 1 hour, 34 minutes

Genre: Comedy, Adventure

Style: Animated

Studio: DreamWorks Animation

Directed by: Peter Hastings

Written by: Peter Hastings

Based on the Books by the Same Name by Dav Pilkey

Produced by: Karen Foster

Edited by: Brian Hopkins

Music by: Tom Howe

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

The Cast of Dog Man:

Dog Man voiced by Peter Hastings

Officer Knight voiced by Peter Hastings

Petey voiced by Pete Davidson

Li’l Petey voiced by Lucas Hopkins

Chief voiced by Lil Rel Howery

Sarah Hatoff voiced by Isla Fisher

Seamus voiced by Billy Boyd

Flippy the Fish voiced by Rickey Gervais

Grampa voiced by Stephen Root

Butler voiced by Poppy Liu

Dog Man Christian Movie Review

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