PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021)

[Eric Duncan]

I mean, I'm sure somebody here will find themselves watching this for some reason

[El Squibbonator]

How does one review a movie like PAW Patrol? That is the question. 

 

In theory, a movie should be judged by its ability to appeal to its intended target audience, and to accomplish what it was intended to do. The problem is that, in practice, when you apply this standard to movies designed exclusively for the enjoyment of the six-and-under crowd, it doesn't work as well as it should. No, there's nothing inherently bad about PAW Patrol: The Movie, but even if one were to review it by the standards of what it is supposed to be-- a mindless two-hour distraction for your preschooler-- it comes up looking insufficient. 

 

If you have watched the show, you can already predict most of the movie's plot. Dastardly Mayor Humdinger has gotten himself elected mayor of Adventure City, even though he is supposedly mayor of Foggy Bottom. The PAW Patrol, consisting of Ryder and the titular dogs, are summoned to put a stop to his crimes before they endanger the city-- in child-friendly, non-lethal ways, of course. We can't have our animated canine emergency workers dealing with realistic emergencies, after all. This is a movie where the police don't conduct body cavity searches and the firefighters don't have to see people getting burned to death. But I digress. 

 

PAW Patrol: The Movie would be tolerable, even enjoyable, if it didn't take itself with an iota of seriousness. DreamWorks made the animal-as-hero-with-super-gadgets concept work in The Penguins of Madagascar, and that movie was proudly self-aware in the typical DreamWorks fashion. But where The Penguins of Madagascar is a farce, deliberately playing up the absurdity of penguins as secret agents, PAW Patrol: The Movie asks its audience to take its premise at face value. 

 

PAW Patrol: The Movie is rated G, a rarity for animated movies in this day and age. However, I suspect many of the children who are its target audience will have already watched-- and enjoyed--PG-rated movies from the likes of Disney. When one compares PAW Patrol: The Movie to these other movies aimed at the same target audience, its deficiencies become much more obvious. And in a year that has already given us Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, Luca, and even Raya and the Last Dragon, it feels like a distinctly lesser effort. Will it appeal to fans of the show? Obviously, but that's sort of a cop-out answer at this point. By any objective standard, even if we judge it by the standards of other movies aimed at children, PAW Patrol: The Movie is not what I would call good. 

 

Grade: D+

Edited August 22, 2021 by El Squibbonator