A One Mann’s Movies review of “PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie”. (2026, 3.5*, U).
I was resigning myself to a frustrating time at the cinema with this one, with two of my younger grandkids, Jack (6) and Rory (3) in tow and what looked to be a brash, noisy, childish affair. But, I was mistaken. Both kids sat enraptured from the opening titles to the final frame (there is no “monkey“… you’re welcome!) And as a kids film, it was not a total bomb for drag-along parents /grandparents either
Sure, it’s not bloody Shakespeare. But it is definitely fit for purpose for younger viewers.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
The PAW Patrol gang get shipwrecked on a mysterious island populated by dinosaurs. Meeting up with another shipwrecked pup, Rex (Hayden Chamberlen), they bring scientists from around the world to document their discovery. But that also brings the island, and its fortune in diamonds, to the attention of former-Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo), newly released from prison, whose determination to go straight lasts about 5 minutes!
Certification:
UK: U; US: PG. (From the BBFC website: “Very mild threat, language.”)
Talent:
Starring: Fortune Feimster, Terry Crews, Jameela Jamil, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Jennifer Hudson, Ron Pardo, Bill Nye, Meredith MacNeill, Hayden Chamberlen, Mckenna Grace, Carter Young, Rain Janjua, Nylan Parthipan, Lucien Duncan-Reid, William Desrosiers, Henry Bolan.
Directed by: Cal Brunker.
Written by: Bob Barlen & Cal Brunker. (Based on the TV Series written by Keith Chapman).
Running Time: 1h 28m.
Review:
Positives:
- What I care about hardly matters when it comes to this film. It’s what my grandkids thought. And they both thought it was simply wonderful. Jack (6) described it as an “awesome movie” and when asked for a score out of 10 promptly gave it “100/10”. And I can see why PAW Patrol hits the spot. As a child, the big thing for me was “Thunderbirds”. And there is a good dose of the International Rescue genes in this franchise, as typified by an opener where a family (with – bizarrely – the unlikely duo of Snoop Dog and Paris Hilton lending their voices to the father and mother) need to be rescued by the pups from their burning yacht. As a kid, it never occurred to me that tipping portraits and descending sofas on Tracy Island weren’t a perfectly sensible way to board your rescue vehicles, and similarly here there are convoluted devices to deposit the PAW patrol pups in their vehicles and then launch them. Kids lap this stuff up.
- Once on the island, the action zips along at a fair lick, allowing the heroic pups to undertake a range of rescue missions: a brachiosaurus stuck in a ravine; a baby dino swept down a river; the same baby dino lost during a volcanic eruption; the rescue of the scientists from pyroclastic bombs. The animation is adequate; the background scenery is well-realised. There’s even some minor peril – reminiscent of “Toy Story 3” in the finale.
- The moral focus of the story here is on Marshall (Carter Young) who is always a bit of a clumsy klutz but who has grit and determination with it and never gives up: the message hammered home is “making mistakes is how you improve” provided you match that with determination to carry on. There’s a secondary message for Humdinger that “greed doesn’t pay”: but we all knew that.
- The voice cast all do a decent job, with some surprises in the cast (other than Hilton and Dog) including Jennifer Hudson and Bill Nye (the science guy). All of the pups are voiced by American kids so have that rather familiar whine that grates on me when the TV series is on. The one ‘name’ in the pup ensemble is McKenna Grace (“Ghostbusters“; “Regretting You“; “Scream 7“) who is reprising her role as Skye from “PAW Patrol: the Mighty Movie” (which was a bullet I previously dodged).
- Although clearly ‘American’ in feel, the film does curiously have a UK variant for this cinema release: when a volcano erupts, someone refers to the event as being like “Bonfire Night” (even though the caption in my captioned screening read “4th July”!) I’m not sure how necessary this was, or what further tweaks might have been made in there.
- At sub-90 minutes the film wisely does not outstay its welcome for its twitchy young audience.
Negatives:
- There are a few pretty bland songs snuck into the mix including one from the Backstreet Boys called “Bottle Up”, written by Ed Sheeran and Savan Kotecha, which at least feels like it might have a run at a Best Song Oscar line-up.
- There’s not really very much in here for ‘grown-ups’: I laughed a couple of times at a few gags that probably went over the kids’ heads, but there was not much of that stuff. (But at least it is tolerable and won’t give you a big headache like the insufferable GOAT did.)
Monkeys.
There are no monkeys at the end of the end-titles. You may leave when ready!
Summary Thoughts:
Kids eight and under will lap this one up. A nice treat for a summer holiday cinema outing. Recommended.
Where to watch?
This film is not yet on the Justwatch database.
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgI5iYmOf5Q.
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