Dog Man

Sometimes a title says it all. When you read a title like Dog Man, you might think something like “Spider-Man” where it’s a story about a man with dog-like abilities. Not this time. Taking a look at any of the covers of the numerous books out there, when you see “Dog Man” you’re getting a Dog Man! And to the credit of Peter Hastings and series creator Dav Pilkey, you’re getting everything the cover advertises and a whole lot more!

When criminal mastermind feline Petey (Pete Davidson) once again terrorizes Ohkay City, it’s up to Officer Knight (Hastings) and his best friend K9 Officer Greg (also Hastings) to stop that cat. But when Knight cuts the wrong wire to the bomb Petey left at the Abandonded Expendable Warehouse, the two crimefighters are left with terrible injuries. The doctors’ only solution was to turn two into one! Dog Man (again Hastings) is born and ready to take on Petey one last time. But he must contend with his angry boss, The Chief (Lil Rel Howery), persistent reporter Sarah Hatoff (Isla Fisher), and also raise Petey’s kitten clone Li’l Petey, all while trying to navigate his new life as a dog that is also a man. But when evil telekinetic fish Flippy (Ricky Gervais) is resurrected with Life Spray, all of Ohkay City will have to brace for a new villain! 

So I went into this about as cold as possible with my five-year-old son. We don’t have the books, we haven’t read the books, we barely knew what this was. I’d seen the trailer and thought it looked fun, and so one Tuesday when he was off from pre-school for a snow-less snow day, we went to the theater, and we had a blast! This was the first time my boy actually made it through the whole movie at the theater and he loved pretty much every damn minute of it. "It's too scary with the building going chomp-chomp-chomp" he tells people while laughing with a big smile. So that’s my son’s review. 

As for me, I thought Dog Man was pretty hilarious too. Admittedly, it took me a bit to get into the chaotic pace of the absurdist humor; it moves fast and throws a lot at you, but once I got there, I was having a great time. On second viewing at home I was pleased to see that it’s still damned funny. While 100% geared towards kids, it’s a flick adults can enjoy too. There’s enough humor for adults to enjoy, so Mom and Dad aren’t left out of the fun. My favorite recurring joke was reporter Sarah Hatoff “reporting live” in whatever terrible weather or deadly location the film came up with. 

But then, if you’ve followed Dav Pilkey through the course of Captain Underpants, you know what you’re in for. Dog Man is a wild ride of crazy, wiz-bang absurdist comedy. Any silly idea that popped into anyone’s head made it into the film. I can see where this might be too much for some, it certainly took me a minute to settle in, but then I realized this is the same sort of thing I’d write and draw when I was a kid. And while it’s all crazy and hilarious, there’s some lovely messaging about the meaning of family and friendship. Especially from the perspective of a nontraditional sort, it focuses on friends and the people closest to you defining what a family is. So, while it is 90 minutes of zaniness, Dog Man has a big heart and wears it on its sleeve. My son’s rating would be a 5/5, I’d give it a 4/5.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 
Dog Man crashes onto home video with a single disc Blu-ray + Digital release from Universal/SDS. The film is pressed on a Region Free BD50 disc and housed in a standard case with identical slipcover artwork. The disc loads to an animated main menu with standard navigation options.

Aside from being a kids film for a generation that might not care about physical media, I don’t understand why Dog Man wasn’t offered on 4K. Given the visuals it’d be a hell of a candidate in 2160p with HDR. But going a step further, for the style and layering of the visuals I’m actually more surprised this film wasn’t shown in 3D in theaters! Regardless, this Blu-ray is a kick. The wild animation style comes through clean and clear with nice, fine lines. The color scheme for the film is just as wild as the visuals, with bright, bold primaries and all of the color shades in between. As I mentioned, there’s some great layering for the visual elements, so there’s a nice sense of depth to the image, especially when a telekentic fish brings a building to life with life gas and it goes on a rampage through the city.

On the audio front, we’re treated to a thundering Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix. Why we didn’t get a full Atmos is a little beyond my understanding, but what we have is great. The soundscape is just as chaotic as the visuals. There’s rarely any quiet or downtime for the mix. While most of the key elements stick to the front/center channels, there’s plenty of spillover throughout the surround channels to keep everything active, engaged, and fully immersive. Through the chaos, dialog is clear, and the Tom Howe score lends itself well to the onscreen happenings. All around a great mix for this wild animated adventure.

This release of Dog Man comes home with a pretty decent assortment of bonus features. On top of a worthwhile audio commentary with writer/director Peter Hastings, the extras include some basic making-of bits along with a how-to-draw segment and another bit on how to make doggie doughnuts. The deleted/extended sequences are in rough form, not finished, but they show the film had some wild ideas to spare. Not everything may be relevant to the making of the film, but it’s an entertaining and informative assortment. 

• Audio Commentary featuring Peter Hastings
• Deleted/Extended Scenes: (HD 10:35 Total)
• Sewer Ball Chase
• Petey Robs Bank of Jim
• Lo’l Petey Adoption People
• Petey Puppet Time
• Dog Man Chopper Hang Glider
• Revenge of the Bank of Jim
• Butler Business
• Flippy In Jail Epilogue 
• Meet the Pack (HD 5:15)
• The Making of Dog Man: A Sarah Hatoff Exclusive (HD 5:43)
• Howl to Draw - Flip-o-Rama Style: (HD 12:24 Total)
• Dog Man
• Petey
• Li’l Petey
• Flip-o-Rama
• How to Make Doughnuts for Dogs (HD 5:24)

I don’t know if I’d go on the limb and call Dog Man a new classic or anything like that, but it’s a hell of a fun flick that pretty much the whole family can enjoy. It was a blast of hilarious absurdist humor in the theater, and it’s still a kick at home. There’s enough going on that it took me multiple viewings to get all of the jokes. However, if frenetic pacing and wiz-bang visuals with nonsensical comedy aren’t your thing, this one might leave you in the dog house. On Blu-ray, the film scores a winning A/V presentation. I may not understand why this wasn’t in 4K with Atmos, but regardless, this disc is a kick. Recommended