IN the growing PAW Patrol franchise, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie has joined the pack, bringing an even more animated spectacle to a decade-old series of films and television series.
After a meteorite crashes in Adventure City, destroying the PAW Patrol headquarters, the rescue dogs are endowed with superpowers after the mysterious crystals within the space rock get attached to their dog tags.
Calling themselves “Mighty Pups”, the dogs use their new powers to amplify their mission of helping people. Meanwhile, in prison, mad scientist Victoria Vance (Taraji P. Henson) and Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo) team up to steal the crystals from Ryder (Finn Lee-Epp) and the Mighty Pups.
There is really not much to say about the film. As something geared towards children, Mighty Movie is serviceable, even if its “true purpose” - selling toys from the franchise - is unsubtle.
Parents, take heed, as there is an entire sequence involving the dogs suiting up (cue “Each toy sold separately”) and several sequences involving each dog’s vehicles (cue “Each figurine sold separately”).
In this feature film length product placement, credit where its due, the film incorporates a moral value of sorts through Skye, a cockapoo struggling with the existential dread of being the smallest dog among the others, especially when Ryder brings in the “Junior Patrollers”, three literal puppies that are bigger than Skye.
Skye gains super strength and the ability to fly, which becomes the film’s metaphor that inner strength defies the physical size of someone. Meanwhile, parents can at least quietly laugh at the film’s unintentional euphemism that size does not matter.
