Starring: Peter Hastings, Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Lucas Hopkins Calderon and Ricky Gervais

Written and directed by Peter Hastings

Universal, out now

Part dog. Part cop. All Dogman. Ohkay City’s newest cop can’t be stopped. But will play fetch.

Written and directed by Peter Hastings from Dav Pilkey’s smash hit books, Dog Man is 98% an absolute blast. Officer Knight and Greg the dog are fused together to save their lives after a catastrophic accident and become something more… something awesome… DOG MAN! Twice the cop they were as individuals, Dog Man is ordered by the Chief to bring in Ohkay City’s worst criminal, Petey the evil cat. But Petey has problems of his own. And a clone. And… possibly not villainous emotions?

Dog Man treats both its audiences with the same care and works as hard as its titular cop to ensue everyone has a good time. Kids are going to love the big exuberant action, especially Petey’s increasingly unhinged inventions, a genuinely great drone chase and the superb building/mech/kaiju fight that closes the movie. Everything’s smart, and fun, and funny and the designs have that wild care-free abandon that Pilkey is so good at. There’s a joke every few seconds, there’s action every few minutes, and the whole thing is grounded in sincerity and sweetness.

Adults are in for just as much of a treat. Die Hard, Aliens and the Fast movies are all riffed on to varying degrees and the dialogue is full of jokes broad enough for kids to get and subtle enough for adults to laugh at. Cheri Oteri’s mayor revealing her brother runs Cat Jail is a standout, as is the distinctly TARDISian dimensions of Dog Man’s house. There’s also the best ADHD joke in movie history and, crucially, none of it’s cruel. There’s no pointing and laughing, just laughing.

Pete Davidson and Poppy Liu are especially great too as Petey and his former assistant, Butler. There’s a running gag about how Butler is paid that’s maybe my favourite thing in the movie although Lil Rel Howery’s Chief comes close. Especially when he demands Dog Man find Petey and clears him to use a montage

So why only 98%? Because in the ten minutes of screen time he gets as telekinetic fish criminal mastermind Flippy, Ricky Gervais turns in the worst work of his career. It’s just Gervais, yelling his way through lines in his own accent with a tenth of the intelligence and charm his yes men have told him he has. Gervais is capable of truly great work when he can be bothered, but this just feels like him cashing a cheque. It should also be said that the presence of a comedian who has spent the majority of his career trading on cruelty is out of place in a movie like this as, well… a telekinetic fish. Everyone else in the cast, especially Peter Hastings as the voice of Dog Man, puts in effort. Gervais cashes a cheque. It’s the most low energy unsubtle performance possible and it threatens to capsize the movie. The fact it doesn’t is down entirely to the hard work of the rest of the cast.

Verdict: Gervais’ awful cameo aside though, this is brilliant fun. Come for the justice, stay for the building sized dance break. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart