‘PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie’ Review: Pup Franchise Gets Super-Sized With Mixed Results

Parents, the holiday season is fast approaching, and the good folks behind the PAW Patrol franchise have figured out a new way to separate you and your money. Their second theatrical film involves the adorable do-gooding pups being transformed into superheroes by a magical meteor. So thanks to PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, there will undoubtedly be a whole new product line in stores featuring the newly minted “Mighty Pups,” sporting all-new superhero costumes and accessories. Consider this a warning, and you’re welcome.

Now to the movie, arriving two years after the surprise success of the PAW Patrol’s theatrical debut. This sequel, which will certainly give birth to many more installments (a third one has already been announced), features as its chief villain Victoria Vance (voiced by Taraji P. Henson, sounding like she’s having fun), a mad scientist who chafes at being referred to as a “mad scientist.”

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As the story beings, Vance steals a giant electro-magnet from a junkyard owned by a married couple (Kristin Bell, James Marsden) for the purpose of snatching a meteor. The plan goes awry, as the meteor crashes into Adventure City and winds up spewing crystals that magically endow each of the PAW Patrol members with a different superpower, including the ability to fly, throw fire, exert magnetic force, etc. Think the X-Men, if they were of the canine pup variety.

The only member who seems to have missed out turns out to be the dachshund Liberty (Marsai Martin), who instead takes up the task of training the members of the group’s “Junior Patroller Program,” a trio of Pomeranian puppies so adorable that there’s likely to be a run on the breed.

Vance winds up in prison for her misdeeds; her cellmate is none other than resident villain Mayor Humdinger (once again hilariously voiced by franchise veteran Ron Pardo), who naturally has an orange top hat to match his orange jumpsuit. The duo, along with Humdinger’s crew of kittens, team up and manage to break out of prison to wreak more havoc, which only the PAW Patrol, guided by their 10-year-old human leader Ryder (Finn Lee-Epp), can prevent.

As with the first film, director Cal Brunker and his co-screenwriter Bob Barlen thankfully infuse the proceedings with an emotional component, in this case focusing on Skye (Mckenna Grace, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Young Sheldon), a Cockapoo pup who suffers from insecurity issues because of her diminutive size. That changes dramatically when she becomes imbued with the greatest superpowers of all the PAW Patrol members, lending new meaning to the Patrol’s trademark phrase “No pup’s too small!”

Unfortunately, much of the film’s running time is taken up not with heartwarming stories like this but rather the sort of typically mind-numbing action sequences stuffing adult live-action superhero franchises. Some of them are pretty spectacular animation-wise, such as Skye crash-landing a disabled plane on a city street that’s been cleared for her by her fellow pups, or a chase scene in which the pups are nearly stomped on by a newly giant-sized Humdinger. But the frenetic mayhem becomes tiresome in its repetitiveness, although kids already hopped up on candy and soda will presumably not mind at all.

This is definitely an animation franchise pitched directly to very young viewers, with little of the sly humor that might amuse their adult chaperones. Once in a while, though, the film flirts with mild outrageousness, such as Humdinger telling his cellmate Vance, “I left you a little surprise in the toilet.” She reluctantly peers in, announcing, “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” I won’t reveal the surprise, but suffice it to say there was a lot of giggling in the audience (or maybe it was just me.)

Several guest stars lend their voices to this installment, including Chris Rock as a talking kitten, Lil Rel Howery as a very effusive television news anchor, Serena Williams as a yoga instructor, and Kim Kardashian and her daughter North West as a pampered poodle and one of the Pomeranian pups respectively.