Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
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Just when you thought the ore of superhero movies had been mined, we hit a new vein of rich comic book gold! This week we are introduced to a whole new breed of superheroes (pun not originally intended, but I'm going with it now) meet "DC League of Super-Pets."
The premise of this film revolves around Superman's dog, Krypto, who is introduced as he puts together an unlikely group of outcast pets to fight the evils pets apparently face these days from super villain pets. If you think this sounds like a long shot to get moviegoers hard-earned cash, you may be partially right. If you have kids who like animated movies about flying dogs, turtles that have super speed and evil-genius guinea pigs, this movie may be for you. Either way, this movie had some highs and some lows, let's talk about why.
The good
Animation — The animation in this film is solid, simple and fun to watch, which keeps it easy to stay entertained. A lot of times movies — especially superhero movies — lose themselves in the complexity of the animation, which ultimately becomes a distraction rather than a benefit. Not so in "DC League of Super-Pets." With a simple color palette in line with popular current children's cartoons, the children in the audience seemed to stay engaged the entire time, even the much younger children.
Pacing — The movie has good pacing that keeps the audience and especially children engaged. There is a lot that happens as the story picks up, giving us time to relate to the main characters enough to care about the outcome. There is a grand finale fight at the end that is big and over the top but ultimately puts the super-pets on top ... for now.
Characters — For the uninitiated, we are introduced to Krypto the superdog voiced by Dwayne Johnson aka 'the Rock.' Along with Johnson, we get Kevin Hart, as the voice of Ace, the street-wise boxer who, despite his best efforts, remains locked up in an animal rescue. The combo of Johnson and Hart is a tried-and-true onscreen partnership with movies like "Jumanji" and "Central Intelligence." The duo work really well together and the chemistry comes through in this film, as well. There are a lot of other great actors involved on-screen as either animal or human characters who give this film texture. As far as how these characters are portrayed we really start to care about them and what ultimately happens.
Message — While this film is about animals with superpowers and all that entails, it is ultimately about friendship and the desire for everyone to find companionship and a sense of purpose in life. This message comes through loud and clear, if not a little heavy-handed at times. I don't think the message is lost on children, even young children.
The bad
Writing — I understand I am indeed not the target demographic for this film, but there was very little in the writing to keep it interesting to adults. I really appreciate a movie that not only speaks to children but doesn't forget the adults who have to sit through the movie with them. In better written movies, everyone leaves with a little something to enjoy. That said, the writers did have it dialed in with the younger audience — I'm thinking of a scene that references the animated children's series "Paw Patrol" that absolutely killed it with the kids who knew what was going on.
Too many characters — As I mentioned before, the main characters and some of the side characters were really well done, but one drawback is there were a lot of peripheral characters that became a little hard to keep track of. Especially in the high-energy battle scenes. Keep in mind, this is not a deal-breaker, but it does get a little muddy later in the film.
Conclusion — "DC League of Super-Pets" is a solid movie for little kids, but leaves very little on the table for slightly older kids and adults. It also feels unnecessary in this over-saturated world of superhero movies, but it manages to hit an overlooked niche that may ultimately translate into a whole new demographic. Time will tell. If you have little kids around age 4 or 5, up to about 10, I think they will be entertained. Anyone older than 10 may lose interest quickly.
