For a kid’s film, Paw Patrol: The Movie is solid. It has good humor, strong emotions, and it doesn’t waste time. It’s a good movie.
I have never seen Paw Patrol willingly on my own, but thanks to a seven-year-old wanting to see this film, I now have become invested. Paw Patrol: The Movie is out on digital (9/21 release) and I had the pleasure to sit down and see what it was about. I have to tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. It ain’t The Green Knight, but darn is it a good message to kids.
Let’s bark about it.
Official Synopsis
The PAW Patrol is on a roll…in their first big-screen adventure! When their rival, Humdinger, becomes Mayor of nearby Adventure City and starts wreaking havoc, Ryder and the heroic pups kick into high gear to face the most challenging mission of their PAW Patrol careers. Along the way, the team finds help from a new ally, the savvy dachshund Liberty, and together the PAW Patrol fights to save the citizens of Adventure City! Can the PAW Patrol save the city before it’s too late? After all, no city’s too big, no pup’s too small!
The first part of the movie has our pup heroes getting into action saving folks and trying to establish dominance as the best rescue bet. Everything is going great until the group is contacted by a dachshund named Liberty, who unfortunately lives in Adventure City that has been recently taken over by Mayor Humdinger, a pro-cat politician. Liberty, who loves her city, is worried about the CAT-tastrophes that could happen thanks to the bad decisions of the mayor. Beyond a terrible mayor that is wrecking the city, one of the Paw Patrol, Chase, has a history with Adventure City, which makes him incredibly uneasy. All of this happens in the first act of the film and establishes what is to come with the rest. It’s simple, it’s somewhat endearing, and surprisingly emotional through Chase’s own sad past.
Who would have thunk this would be a deep film? Gosh, almighty.
The second act of the film is just a comedy of Mayor Humdinger’s errors. The mayor tries to do something to make him look good to his city and things go haywire every time. For example, the mayor tries to take control of a machine that eats rain clouds for research, and he uses the machine to clear the sky for his firework display instead of what it was intended to be used for — research. That machine is the catalyst for bigger problems in act three, but it’s the first tip of the hat for disasters that Humdinger creates. Continuing with disasters, Humdinger tries to put on the fireworks show, but the fireworks stand malfunctions, falls down, and fireworks go everywhere endangering citizens. Then the mayor tries to put a loop-to-loop-to-loop on the city’s subway tracks, which goes south. Every time something happens, the Paw Patrol shows up to help and save the day. Every time they help, Chase gets freaked out and freezes. On top of this, the mayor begins to resent the Paw Patrol for showing him up every time. All the second act builds onto Chase’s storyline of anxiety and the incompetence of the mayor. As each problem gets bigger, it slowly finds its way back to the cloud machine, which becomes the climax of the third act.
In true fashion, I will stop right there. The climax of the film ties up the mayor, the machine, and Chase perfectly. While it’s safe to say it’s predictable, it still doesn’t make it any less emotional. It’s nothing too heavy of course, but it’s certainly layered well for a film that shouldn’t be as complicated as it is.
For a kid’s film, Paw Patrol: The Movie is solid. It has good humor, strong emotions, and it doesn’t waste time. It’s a good movie.
