Dog Man

Following a bit of surgery that might have made “Dr Jekyll” proud, a police officer and his dog have been combined into the one formidable crime-fighting force determined to bring to book the evil menace that is “Petey” the stripey cat and criminal mastermind. No matter how many times he is captured, he still manages to escape - much to the chagrin of the police chief and the mayor! His latest scheme involves cloning but what he gets is a disappointingly timid, perhaps even decent, smaller version of himself who just wants to be his son! Essentially, “Lil’ Petey” is abandoned, but luckily taken in by the kindly “Dog Man” and so after a dose of bonding, off we go on a slightly sentimental round of detective work whilst just about everyone falls in love with the tiny little kitten with an heart of gold. It’s actually quite good fun, this, with plenty going on for the adults as well as for the sprogs. A little bit of literary effort has gone into the script and the messages of family, loyalty, hope and of nobody being entirely irredeemable are presented obviously but not too cloyingly. The standard of the animation is engaging enough and it mixes sci-fi with some heartstring tugging quite amiably, too. You’ll almost certainly never remember it afterwards, and at ninety minutes it is too long, but it’s an easy, colourful and vibrant film to watch.