Paw Patrol: The Movie

Voices of: Tyler Perry, Ron Pardo, Will Brisbin, Kingsley Marshall, Keegan Hedley, Iain Armitage, Callum Shoniker, Shayle Simons, Lilly Bartlam, Kim Roberts, Jimmy Kimmel, Dax Shepard, Randall Park, Kim Kardashian
Directed by: Cal Brunker
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Mayor Humdinger moves to Adventure City and the Paw Patrol must follow, to prevent him from accidentally destroying the city.

Review:

Tim: My kids definitely went through a Paw Patrol phase. So, while I never "loved" the show, I was familiar with Ryder, Chase, Marshall, Skye, Rubble, Rocky, Zuma (my favorite), Mayor Humdinger, Cap'n Turbot and all the others. I was excited for my kids to see this movie, but I was curious as to how the quality would be. I can say that Paw Patrol: The Movie is a fairly entertaining, solid movie. It has some flaws, but it was enjoyable. My kids enjoyed, it too. As a whole, I would call this movie a success.

The big change to the story here is that the Paw Patrol moves from Adventure Bay to Adventure City. This didn't require the greatest leap to make, but I did appreciate how things felt different here. Changing the location to a big city differentiated the film from the series. It opened up the world some and it helped the movie feel like more than just an extension of the show. This also does a few other things- it allows us to learn more about Chase's backstory, And, it allows them to introduce a new pup, Liberty (ostensibly so they can sell more toys). These things work in the context of the film and add more depth to the story, to accommodate the longer run time.

The basic story is the same, which works for younger viewers. My kids were enthralled with the story and were able to easily follow along, as it involved the Paw Patrol coming to the rescue of the hapless Mayor Humdinger. The scale is definitely bigger, but the story was the same. I also appreciated how the story focused on Chase. This is done just a bit at the expense of the other characters, but it makes sense to have one of the pups as the primary focus and Chase is the obvious choice. It was fun and interesting to learn about his origin with the Pup Patrol, and it also presented him with big obstacles to overcome throughout the film. The script was quite effective.

The animation was good. Nothing here was revolutionary, but it looked nice. The one complaint I had was the redesign of Ryder. I know a different studio animated the movie and they made changes for the format and for story purposes. Most of it is fine- the pups look great in this new design. However, Ryder just looks off. There wasn't anything wrong with his original look and the movie takes that and just makes it look worse. It doesn't drastically impact the film, but it is bothersome if you're familiar with the show.

I have to say, I enjoyed Paw Patrol: The Movie. It's far from great, but it's absolutely an entertaining film. My kids loved it (although my 2.5 year-old daughter cried several times when Chase was sad/scared). The film seems to have done well with critics and was at least a decent box office success (which is a big plus in the pandemic). This was an enjoyable movie and I hope they make more! Just next time, no worthless Kim Kardashian inclusion- please?

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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