Review: Manic and emotional, animated ‘Dog Man’ hides parental anxiety under its fur

Never fear, “Dog Man” is here — to save your families from the doldrums of January moviegoing. The popular children’s books by Dav Pilkey (a spinoff of the “Captain Underpants” series) are adapted with a silly, self-referential charm by writer-director Peter Hastings, resulting in a cutely frenetic but narratively somewhat flimsy animated feature.

Hastings and team maintain the childlike illustration style of the books, with crayon lines and shading on the simply designed characters, as well as the colloquial, slangy writing (law enforcement officers are “supa cops”; various important buildings are “ova there”).

“Dog Man” feels like a bedtime story made up by a dad, then rendered in a sweetly kiddie aesthetic. The character’s origin story is told in a quick introduction: Ohkay City police officer Knight and his trusty dog, Greg, make a great team (Greg’s the brains of the operation). But when they’re injured in a terrible explosion, doctors have to attach Greg’s head to Officer Knight’s body, resulting in Dog Man, Supa Cop. Dog Man succeeds, to the chagrin of his boss, Chief (Li’l Rel Howery), and delights local TV reporter Sarah Hatoff (Isla Fisher).

Dog Man’s nemesis is an evil orange tabby named Petey (Pete Davidson) who loves nothing more than to dream up wilder and wilder robots to take down his rival. Dog Man, for his part, is continually throwing Petey in Cat Jail, from which he keeps escaping. But everything changes when Petey, fed up with his assistant Butler (Poppy Liu), clones himself and out pops an adorable orange kitten, Li’l Petey (Lucas Hopkins Calderon).

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It’s the entrance of Li’l Petey that grounds and focuses the affably chaotic “Dog Man,” which often teeters on the edge of completely out of control. The film is so visually dense, so rapidly wordy, so referential to its own form, that details fly by in a blur. But the emotional beats are solid, especially when it comes to the themes of found family and the fears and challenges of raising a little version of yourself.

“Dog Man” is a very obvious and emotionally naked tale about the anxiety of parenting, specifically from a young dad’s perspective (references to films like “Die Hard” and “RoboCop” also underline the millennial/Gen X dad POV). Petey wails, “What have I done with my life?” as Li’l Petey cries, and then wonders, “If I made you, why aren’t you like me?” as he realizes that his mini-me isn’t as interested in evil as he is. When Petey abandons his son, in a repeat of his own childhood trauma, Dog Man rescues the young kitten and teaches him how to be actively compassionate, which leads to Li’l Petey later imparting the wise nugget, “Love isn’t just a feeling, it’s also something you do.”

These touching themes underpin the otherwise goofy and juvenile story about a reanimated evil fish, Flippy, programmed by Petey to destroy all Do-Gooders, who somehow manages to turn all the buildings in Ohkay City into kaiju-style monsters. That storyline blurs into a messily amusing cacophony, only serving as a springboard for Petey’s redemption.

Davidson lends his irascible appeal to Petey in an excellent vocal turn. The writing and performances of Petey and Li’l Petey’s characters emerge as the bright spots of the film, their surprisingly satisfying character arcs eclipsing the wordless heroics of Dog Man.

Still, the whole film barely stretches to its 89-minute running time and there’s not enough to the conceit to pad out more of the story and lore. However, the lessons of compassion and empathy are profound, and remind us that tales of good triumphing over evil are evergreen, even when it doesn’t seem to be reflected in the world around us.