PAW Patrol: The Movie

PAW Patrol: The Movie
Starring Iain Armitage, Keegan Hedley, Lilly Bartlam, Marsai Martin
Directed by Cal Brunker

Generally when a television series makes a movie for the big screen, it's for a few reasons: either it wants to make more money by making children drag their parents to the theater, or by introducing new characters to sell more toys. One of the prime examples of this is the 1986 classic "Transformers: The Movie," where they created the movie to play on the big screen in-between seasons of the hit animated series to introduce a gang of new characters by killing off the classic ones (I still have mental scars from that). "PAW Patrol: The Movie" seems to follow in line with both those ideas: it not only already spawned a new series of video games, toys, and clothing around the movie, but it also introduced a new pup character to join the main squad.

In the bustling city of Adventure City, the dastardly Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo) has won another term of mayor due to no one else running against him, to the chagrin of inner city pup Liberty (Marsai Martin). She calls upon the PAW Patrol, led by Ryder (Will Brisbin), to help when the Mayor's fireworks extravaganza goes terribly array. Ryder prepares the pups to go to the big city, but Chase (Iain Armitage) is hesitant to go, because he was left behind in the city as a baby pup and fears the big city, but Ryder eventually convinces him to go. When they arrive in Adventure City, the PAW Patrol learn that there's more than just a fireworks fiasco that the Mayor is planning, and have to unite with the street smart Liberty to stop him from using a weather making machine from malfunctioning that could lead to the end of the city.

To say "PAW Patrol: The Movie" isn't designed for me would be an understatement. Being a 40-something year old single man with no kids, I had absolutely no idea about anything that was going on in the movie, but that's to be expected. Yet I make it a habit of seeing every movie that's released, so I knew I had to sit through and swallow the pill. Surprisingly, I found myself somewhat, slightly (but more than I thought) enjoying the story and the animation, as well as the message the film portrays. Sometimes kids movies are so dumbed down that parents groan when they have to sit through it, and other kids movies cater not just to the little ones but their parents as well, offering more than just flashy colorful animation. "PAW Patrol: The Movie" really celebrates the diversity of the cast and includes important life lessons about understanding and appreciating differences in people as well as facing your fears to overcome adversity.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking it, because again I had no idea of the history of "PAW Patrol," and I still don't want to know. I was trying to find something I can relate to, and those are the themes that I found while watching the film. Each of the members of the patrol have their own strengths, and their leader manages to utilize them to their full effectiveness. It's like "Avengers" for the youngins, with Ryder serving as the Nick Fury who brings them all together. The film celebrates these differences and makes each pup a unique entity, not just merely a background character despite Chase being the obvious star. Each one gets their moment to shine, and it's somewhat exciting if not a bit excruciating hearing their catch phrases ad nausea.

Something I don't think is in the series is the issue Chase has with the big city that's explored here. He's fearful to go back because when he was a young pup he was abandoned there and had to fend for himself before Ryder found him, and it would be an acceptable fear to go back to that situation. When they arrive he freezes time and again, until he has to face his past and come to terms with the negative aspects of the city in order to save it, and of course you know how that all ends up. It's refreshing to see such adult issues being tackled in a kid's movie.

The one thing I found somewhat maybe unintentionally hilarious is the fact that whenever the pups are called to help, they literally take at least five minutes to change into their uniforms, get their specifically designed vehicles, and arrive on the scene. Hopefully the real emergency teams in real life don't take the same amount of time to put their clothes on before they come to the rescue. Still, despite that, everything else about the film was surprisingly enjoyable, even for an old gruff like myself.

Offering strong messages about diversity, overcoming your past, and working as a unit, "PAW Patrol: The Movie" is a bit more than just an elongated episode, and it provides enough lively animation and fun that parents and kids can both enjoy it.

The Score: B-