DC League of Super-Pets

The summer film season has been full of adventurous and entertaining fare whether it be big-budget or animated films. A fair amount of animated flicks have graced the screen thus far and now we have "DC League of Super-Pets" in the offing centered around pets with super powers along with their human counterparts. 

In this story, Krypto (Dwayne Johnson) the Super-Dog and Superman (John Krasinski) are inseparable best friends, sharing the same super powers and fighting crime in Metropolis side by side. When Superman and the rest of the Justice League, including Batman (Keanu Reeves), Wonder Woman (Jameela Jamil), Aquaman (Jemaine Clement) and others, are kidnapped, Krypto must convince a rag-tag shelter pack--Ace the hound (Kevin Hart), PB the potbellied pig (Vanessa Bayer), Merton the turtle (Natasha Lyonne) and Chip the squirrel (Diego Luna)--to master their own newfound powers and help him rescue the superheroes. 

Others to round out the cast are Kate McKinnon as Lulu, Marc Maron as Lex Luther, Thomas Middleditch as Keith--aka Ice Guinea Pig, Ben Schwartz as Mark--aka Fire Guinea Pig and Olivia Wilde as Lois Lane. 

This was humorously directed by Jared Stern ("Happy Anniversary" '18) plus a TV mini series, and co-directed by Sam Levine (TV). Even though both these directors have limited experience in the director's chair, this was staged and paced well with all the pathos and emotion needed to be emitted from these actors. Certainly both Johnson and Hart have worked together in the most recent Jumanji films and seemingly have a great working relationship, but this was shear talented directing. It was creatively written by Stern ("Mr. Popper's Penguins" '11, "The Watch" '12, "The Internship" '13, "The Lego Batman Movie" '17, "The Lego Ninjago Movie" '17, "Happy Anniversary" '18) plus TV and John Whittington ("The Lego Batman Movie" '17, "When We First Met" '18, "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" '22) plus TV, based on the DC comics. The script definitely carried that 'Lego Movie' style of writing which made all the difference to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing in those films, so when I realized that the similar style of writing would be present in this film, I felt that it would be well honed, and I was correct. Really. other that a couple of very small places of continuity issues, this was funny, adventurous all the while having a touching message underneath it all. The message here? Being a team no matter how impossible the odds involved. The animation by Animal Logic was creative and kept the attention of the audience ten fold. When I saw the trailer to this film, I felt that it would definitely be a doable film, and wow, it was very cleverly executed. 

If you like animated films or films based on superheroes, this will certainly fit the bill. I'm not expressly a fan of the 'comic book' style of films, but this was definitely one of those few exceptions. If you want true escapism at it's finest, grab the popcorn and enjoy this gem!

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                             Rated: PG                                                 105mins.