PAW PATROL: THE DINO MOVIE:
THIRD RESCUE PUPPY ADVENTURE IS MORE OF THE SAME, JUST ADD DINOSAURS!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: *** out of 4
PARAMOUNT ANIMATION AND NICKELODEON MOVIES
The PAW Patrol and a prehistoric new friend in PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie
Ryder and his team of rescue pups are back for another adventure in PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, the third film based on Nickelodeon’s PAW Patrol animated series. Well, in case you missed my reviews for 2021’s PAW Patrol: The Movie and 2023’s PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, I guess I’ll give my quick thoughts on the franchise once again.
PAW Patrol came out when I was in college, so I was way past watching shows like this, but I definitely saw the appeal when I decided to check out the first movie, which was a perfectly serviceable kids' movie with a decent amount of imagination and heart; same goes for the sequel where the PAW Patrol gets superpowers.
Now we have this third movie where the PAW Patrol befriends dinosaurs, as if this franchise couldn’t pander to children any more (I should be expecting aliens and pirates in future films). I knew what I was getting into having seen the first two and…yeah, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie gives exactly what it promises.
Like its predecessors, this is a perfectly fine movie that I’m sure young kids will lose their minds over while parents will be clenching their wallets tightly. Also, like the other movies, the film balances out its commercialism and pandering with creativity and some heartfelt moments; this isn’t Oogieloves or Barney’s Great Adventure, you can tell the people behind it are trying to make a good movie first.
The film follows Ryder (voiced this time by Henry Bolan) and the PAW Patrol crash-landing on a mysterious dinosaur-populated island after a storm, where they meet Rex (voiced by Hayden Chamberlain), a puppy who’s been on the island for years and is an expert on all things dino-related. But when the evil Mayor Humdinger (voiced once again by Ron Pardo) plots a mining excursion on the dinosaur island to farm diamonds that threatens the island itself and the firefighter dalmatian, Marshall (voiced by Carter Young) begins to feel insecure about his clumsiness, the PAW Patrol will have to strap in and save the day and learn important lessons about what it takes to be a hero.
The film also features the voices of Rain Janjua as Chase, Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Scream 7) reprising her role as Skye, William Desrosiers as Rocky, Nylan Parthipan reprising his role as Zuma, Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris, Idiocracy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as Alistair Stonewall, Meredith MacNeill (Man Stroke Woman, Baroness von Sketch Show, Pretty Hard Cases) as Harper Cutlass, Jennifer Hudson (The Secret Life of Bees, Chi-Raq, Goat) as Lilian Ledes, Fortune Feimster (The Mindy Project, The L World: Generation Q, Zootopia 2) as Eugenia Bunson, Jameela Jamil (The Good Place, DC League of Super-Pets, Elio) as Heidi Pothesis, Bill Nye (Bill Nye the Science Guy) as Dr. Theo Rising, Snoop Dogg (Starsky & Hutch, The Addams Family 1 and 2, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run) who I’m convinced was hired because of his name as Dave, and Paris Hilton (House of Wax (2005), Repo! The Genetic Opera, The Bling Ring) as Nancy.
Overall, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie knows exactly what it is and will be best enjoyed by its young target audience, but there are sparks of creativity and heart to put it above your average, pandering children’s movie. Yes, it is a movie based on a franchise made to sell toys, and believe me, there are several scenes where you can see the cynicism, but it understands basic filmmaking first and foremost and works the commercialism around the story.
Keep in mind, the story is about as basic as you could get, as this film is aimed at very young kids, and there aren’t any shocking revelations or game-changing storytelling that will make moviegoers look at animation in an entirely different way. No, it’s just a fun, colorful, and disposable adventure for kids, and as far as those go, this is fine.
If you’re going into this expecting Toy Story 5, you’re gonna have a bad time because it is far from that caliber. However, while the film doesn’t exactly excel at storytelling, there is some solid craftsmanship in the animation and action scenes.
There is one brilliant action sequence involving two human characters hanging on a grappling hook wire that’s suspended between two moving PAW Patrol vehicles, and it honestly felt like something out of an Indiana Jones movie (Old school Indy, not grumpy old man Indy from Dial of Boredom). I’ve always expected the PAW Patrol action scenes to be very standard, but that sequence was executed very well.
The movie also has some decent character moments, namely the ones surrounding Marshall the Dalmatian, who feels guilty about being clumsy and always messing things up for the team. The scenes where Ryder is comforting Marshall and telling him it’s okay and that he’s the dog who never gave up are actually pretty touching and felt more natural than Skye feeling insecure about her size in the last movie.
I’ve said it before, PAW Patrol isn’t really my thing, but I can certainly see young children being completely engrossed and captivated by the franchise just by my experiences of watching these three films. Cute doggies, tech, transforming cars and vehicles, superpowers, dinosaurs- all that stuff kids love while also teaching them bold lessons along the way, so, in my book, these pups are okay.
These movies aren’t the modern-day equivalent of the Sesame Street movie, Follow That Bird (Which actually is a fantastic movie), but the PAW Patrol films are harmless fluff with enough imagination and genuine sweetness to anchor it past being a soulless, manufactured kids franchise. If you've got kids who want to see it, strap in; and if not…eh, go see The Odyssey or Spider-Man: Brand New Day again, or perhaps the other dinosaur-themed movie that just came out, The End of Oak Street.
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