Dog Man

DreamWorks has some wonderfully zany creations to its credit and the box-office receipts to back them up, but this one really strains the relationship. It’s exhausting.

It's all very, very silly. That, combined with the relentless pace, should ensure that it delights its target audience of under-tens, but the adults shouldn't fear this dog's bark too much.

Like Captain Underpants, it's really entertainingly anarchic fare.

Hastings preserves Pilkey's key ingredients: lavatorial sniggers, winking details, a kid-made aesthetic...

It is all steeped in this layer of fundamental creepiness that I don't understand. What's going on with the kids, people?

Dog Man, the half-dog, half-cop protagonist of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants spin-off book series, is a gloriously funny creation.

Dogman may be the headliner but it’s the sentimental story with Pete the cat that won me over.

The film kicks off strongly but loses focus midway, circling around the repetitive theme of Petey’s arrest. However, once Li’l Petey enters the frame, the narrative regains its rhythm and charm.

Dog Man is one of those films that proves movies for kids don’t have to be dumb. They can be simple enough that everyone can have fun with them.

A fun movie, but one that lives and dies by how much its animation wins you over.