Director – Cal Brunker – 2026 – Canada – Cert. PG – 88m
**1/2
The PAW Patrol, a rescue organisation made up of cute puppies, is stranded on a dinosaur-infested desert island – out in UK cinemas on Friday, August 7th
The family are on vacation on the yacht, with dad explaining that fishing takes a lot of time and patience, to the exasperation of his bored daughter. Mum has already caught a couple of fish at the shops, and puts them on the barbecue on deck, only for the family cat to try and seize them, in the process setting the yacht on fire.
Fortunately, the PAW Patrol are in the area on their massive rescue ship, and set out to rescue the hapless family on vehicles (including one with a launch sequence that runs the length of the ship’s hold) inspired by 1960s Gerry & Sylvia Anderson TV series such as Thunderbirds (1965-66) and Stingray (1964-5). The holidaying family seem, unconvincingly, not in the least concerned that their yacht has gone up in smoke. Oops, they forgot the cat, so it’s up to pup Marshall (voice: Carter Young) to enter the burning lower decks and save the kitty.
After that, the PAW Patrol crew get caught in a storm and end up beached on a desert island. It’s not long before they witness a stand off between a spinosaurus and a T. Rex in a direct nod to Jurassic Park /// (Joe Johnston, 2001). The latter dinosaur, it turns out, is ridden by a dog named Rex (voice: Hayden Chemberlen) fitted with rear wheels for mobility, who explains that he’s lived in the island for years since falling off a boat, and has found the terrible lizards to be pretty friendly once you get to know them…
Meanwhile, a party of explorers led by regular series bad guy Mayor Humdinger (voice: Ron Pardo) turn up having seen the PAW Patrol on the island on TV with diamonds in the background. The embedded, precious stones prove impervious to the various hand and vehicular, drilling tools our villains throw against them, culminating in something that recalls the Mole from Thunderbirds. While digging, they discover the island is volcanic…
The regular dog (puppy) characters wore this ageing adult down with their constant enthusiasm, although the numerous small children in the audience seemed to relate to that, so the film is clearly doing a good job with its target audience.
As a long-standing dinosaur geek, I was intrigued to see how the small children’s franchise would handle the beasts, but my interest waned somewhat when it became clear that the answer was, remove any element of peril whatsoever. Perhaps this should matter less with the herbivorous dinosaurs, who are given some considerable amount of screen time, but even here, a major opportunity is lost given that a sense of majesty is lacking. I couldn’t even get excited by a rescue sequence in which a sauropod gets trapped in the gap between two cliffs facing each other.
I’m aware writing this that in addition to dinosaurs, I’ve referenced a couple of Gerry Anderson’s 1960s TV shows. Those are far superior to this current offering IMHO (and they also are what I was watching as a child, although probably at age six years upwards, which is a two or three years above the PAW Patrol kindergarten target audience.) Little ones will probably love this film, but apart from the viewing pleasure on their faces and their being totally and utterly absorbed in everything that’s going on, there’s not much here for adults.
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie is out in cinemas in the UK on Friday, August 7th.
Trailer: