PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023)
The both animated and spirited PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is a fun children’s film, that doesn’t place too much of a burden on any accompanying adult.
It’s the second feature film, after PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021) and the long running animated series, which debuted in 2013 and was created by Keith Chapman.
It’s about team leader Ryder (Finn Lee-Epp) and his pups who keep Adventure City safe from harm. In the first movie they stopped Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo) from turning this lively big town into a chaotic mess.
In the new movie Humdinger plays second fiddle to the new villain, Victoria Vance (Taraji P. Henson), a mad scientist who admits she’s ‘a little mad’ and also ‘a scientist’ but who still objects to being called ‘a mad scientist’, just like any mad scientist would. Amazing voice work from Henson, by the way.
Written by Cal Brunker, Bob Barlen and and Shane Morris, and directed by Brunker, The Mighty Movie plays it fast and funny, the animations are bright and colourful and the whole movie zips by in just under ninety minutes.
The real stars of the movie are, as per usual, the pups, who each get enough recognizable features to identify with. At the center there is Sky (the wonderful McKenna Grace), who used to be the runt of the litter, but through the help of new-found super powers makes the transition from smallest to strongest.
This happens after a magical meteor crash lands in Adventure City and gives the PAW Patrol pups superpowers, transforming them into The Mighty Pups.
There is also adorable dachshund Liberty (Marsai Martin), who can’t quite figure out what her super power is, which understandably makes her a little sad when all the other pups find theirs, like being able to fly or act like a wrecking ball. But Liberty redeems herself by focusing her energies on three even younger trainees, who all get to play their part in fighting the dangers that threaten both Adventure City and the world as a whole.
That’s because things take a turn for the worse when Humdinger breaks out of jail and teams up with Vanessa to steal the magical meteor’s superpowers for their own evil plans. So the Mighty Pups have to stop the supervillains before it's too late.
The super hero tropes aren’t perhaps all that original - I’m reminded of the time when every third kids movie was a James Bond spoof, like Spy Kids or Agent Cody Banks - but they give the movie enough energy to power through till the inevitable but still well deserved happy ending.