Paw Patrol: A Movie Fit for Children

Spencer McFarlane '24
Hello, movie fans! Today, I’m going to review the brand-new Paw Patrol film, Paw Patrol The Movie. Before I start, I want to clarify that all of my reviews are my opinion. Also, I review movies in a little wacky way, so I will quickly go over how I will be reviewing the movies I watch this year.
There are 4 categories I like to review movies on: Visuals (like special effects, camera work, and when animated, animation), Characters, Villain, and Plot. I will be rating these on a 10 point scale: 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Now, to the pawsome review!
 
Animation: 7.5/10. The animation in this movie was exceptional. Probably the best part of this movie was the animation they used for water. It looked insane! I also loved how they kept with the animation style they used during the show but enhanced it to make it more stunning. However, there was a huge flaw that kept the animation from being better and that was the syncing of audio to mouth. When one of the dogs was talking, it was perfectly synced, but when a human was talking, the words were a second or two behind the mouth’s animation. It was so jarring to watch, and it really distracted me while I was watching this movie.

Characters: 4/10. One comparison that perfectly describes this movie's characters is stale cookies. Each cookie has its own frosting; however, the cookie is still stale. Every pup in this movie is the same, yet each has a small distinction. Rubble is silly, and Marshall is a klutz. Chase is the only exception due to the weirdest choice for a children’s movie I have ever seen. Chase, a dog, has PTSD from being in Adventure City. There’s one part in the movie where Chase wakes up, walks up to a window, puts his paw on the window, and drags it down slowly for drama. While this is happening, a song about depression is playing. It was very hard not to laugh during this scene.
 
Villain: 5/10. Mayor Humdinger is the villain in this film, and a villain he is! While I was watching Paw Patrol The Movie, he reminded me of a very, VERY, dumbed down version of the Joker. He used Joker’s style, laugh, and insanity. Now, it wasn't exactly like the Joker due to it being a children’s movie, but it gave me that feel throughout. I also liked that he just doesn’t care about things because he’s so self-centered. Weirdly, it adds a lot to his character. The last thing that adds to him as a villain is that he doesn’t act like a villain. He just wants adventure to come back to Adventure City, and people just want it to stay the way it is. Actually, it’s quite sad to see him fail.

Plot: 6/10. Rating the plot for a children’s movie is hard. Most of them are the exact same with few differences. This movie's plot is about the same as most kids’ movies. I did like how the cloud remover was a looming threat throughout the movie and when it finally exploded, its reputation from the scientist preceded it.
 
Overall: 5.5/10. The movie was very refreshing, and I enjoyed eating popcorn and watching the movie with my dog. It still was a very “meh” movie, and in 2 weeks, I will probably forget I watched it. However, if you have little siblings or you babysit, this movie is relatively short at 1 hour and 30 minutes, and I’ve heard that kids absolutely love it! 

    • Photo: Paw Patrol: The Movie promotional poster (Paramount)

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