“Efficient Cinema With Out any Passion,” as reviewed in “PAW Patrol: The Movie.”
It’s difficult to dislike anything that accomplishes precisely what it claims to do. Sure, a towel rack may be considered aesthetically unappealing. But one can’t say they don’t like it as long as it keeps a towel from taking up valuable floor space.
That’s where I’m at with PAW Patrol: The Movie, strangely enough. As someone who has never seen the television series, I wanted this film to accomplish one thing: establish a case for why the kids adore it so much. It has to depict adorable, plushy pets rescuing humans in dangerous circumstances in particular. Despite all of the film’s flaws, it does manage to do it right.
In reality, the movie excels at adhering to a formula. This is a demonstration of rescue dogs in action, and they do it with style. Every member of the PAW Patrol has a morphing vehicle, and they are as beautiful as they are functional.
A fire engine, for example, has a ladder that can reach the heights of many multi-story structures.
There’s also a helicopter that can transform into a jet if it requires more power to fly. To be honest, these changes become more of a show than anything the dogs accomplish at times. Nonetheless, none of it suggests that the picture is betraying its intended audience.
Of course, depending so heavily on formula has a downside: anything approaching a surprise withers away. This is initially seen in the storey, which states that one may sleepwalk.
Adventure City,
which is next to the PAW Patrol’s home base, is being altered in major and hazardous ways by the newly appointed Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo).
As a result, it’s up to PAW Patrol commander Ryder (Will Brisbin) and his squad of rescue dogs to prevent Humdinger from endangering humans. They meet a dog called Liberty (Marsai Martin) along the road who is adamant about joining the squad.
To add to the confusion, crucial member Chase (Iain Armitage) begins to struggle with his responsibilities as his difficult history in Adventure City resurfaces.
In a fast 88-minute duration, that’s a lot of moving pieces to pack in. And, unsurprisingly, the directors struggle to switch between them. Screenwriters Billy Frolick, Cal Brunker, and Bob Barlen clearly intended to shake up the standard “let’s stop the evil guy” storey.
However, based on the findings, they only made matters worse. This is most evident in the way it handles the Chase subplot. To begin with, this narrative places the other soldiers of a PAW Patrol in the background.
As a consequence, the film has little possibility of becoming a joyful ensemble piece that treats all characters equally. Second, the exploration of Chase’s struggle is very brief. Brunker, who also directs, uses only generic pop tunes in the soundtrack to portray the character’s dread.
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One of PAW Patrol:
The Movie’s most interesting moments come from a lack of attention to detail, which tells a lot about the film. Ryder and the dogs are tasked with rescuing people from a burning building in the first big action sequence.
And, considering that they had a firetruck at their disposal, Ryder would undoubtedly put it to good use.
But this isn’t the case! Instead, Ryder tells all of the dogs, including Chase, to proceed to the building. The dog with the firetruck only appears after Chase falls over the burning building’s balcony.
This would play out differently if this were any other reasonable writer. However, since these authors are irrational, the outcome is a scenario that is so ridiculous that it becomes unforgettable.
I wish the lack of novelty was just addressed to the narrative. The staleness, it turns out, applies to the jokes as well. It’s great that most of the running jokes aren’t aimed at the lowest common denominator.
Indeed, the most famous recurring joke – Humdinger’s never-ending supply of top hats – is a great example of physical comedy.
However, having jokes that are at least somewhat amusing would be preferable, yet PAW Patrol: The Movie refuses to do so. More often than not, the filmmakers are content to keep coming up with cringe-worthy dog jokes.
While the top hat joke is entertaining, the second main running gag – Humdinger’s two henchmen arguing about who is the better one – is tedious.
The shift from television to cinema, to its credit, works in the picture’s favor.
I may not have watched the whole series, but I am aware that it did not include sophisticated rendering. Meanwhile, the film has the same level of polish as anything produced by major animation companies.
The lighting and colors are considerably more complex, despite the fact that the character designs remain as gentle as ever. As a result, there are action scenes with staging that are suitable for a feature-length film.
When it doesn’t commit to precise renderings of basic designs, it opts for even greater simplicity with 2D motion and bright colors. Granted, this strong style is only seen in the main-on-end sequence, but I’m glad it’s there.
PAW Patrol: The Movie delivers the bare minimum on almost every level. None of the jokes are very funny, but they are well-crafted enough to read as jokes. The dogs don’t all have strong personalities, but they’re all adorable and entertaining.
The emotional moments aren’t very weighty, but they make enough narrative sense that it’s difficult to dismiss them. Simply stated, it is A Film That ExistsTM that will not spoil anyone’s day.
At about the same time, it’s so uninteresting that it’ll be forgotten in a few hours by anybody who isn’t in the target demographic.
Source:
‘PAW Patrol: The Movie’ Review: “Functional Cinema With No Passion”