Film Review of the Week

Animation

PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (U)

Review: No dino is too big, no pup is too small in a supersized feature film extension of the hugely popular PAW Patrol children’s TV series, which goes for a fast-paced gallivant in the Jurassic park by uncovering a hidden island populated by living, breathing prehistoric creatures. Director Cal Brunker and co-writer Bob Barlen don’t waste energy contriving a pseudoscientific explanation for the hulking beasts’ existence when a lean 88-minute running time can be devoted to rip-roaring adventure on four and two legs.

Ryder (voiced by Henry Bolan) and Paw Patrol pups Marshall (Carter Young), Chase (Rain Janjua), Rocky (William Desrosiers), Rubble (Lucien Duncan-Reid), Skye (Mckenna Grace) and Zuma (Nylan Parthipan) safely extinguish a fire on a boat, rescuing a family of four and their ungrateful pet cat Mr Fluffybuns. The jubilant team sail on their floating HQ into a gathering storm that causes instruments on the bridge to malfunction. As a swirling fog lifts, the ship runs aground on an island that doesn’t exist on any map. This lush oasis is filled with wonders long thought extinct, including herds of Brachiosaurus and Spinosaurus and a playful T-rex named Timmy, who acts as a steed for shipwrecked pup Rex (Hayden Chamberlen).

He has been trapped on the island for two years and 147 days and is delighted to welcome fresh, furry faces to his treehouse. Scientists including Heidi (Jameela Jamil) and Eugenia (Fortune Feimster) from the Paleontology Studies Institute flock to the island to protect the dinosaurs’ verdant ecosystem. However, avaricious Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo) plots to mine the island’s uncut diamonds with the help of guide Hunter Cutlass (Meredith MacNeill) and explosives expert Alistair Stonewall (Terry Crews). “When in doubt, we blast it out!” whoops Alistair, planting 1,000 sticks of dynamite that carelessly coax a dormant volcano back to life.

PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie is the most exciting and entertaining chapter of the tail-wagging saga to date with kinetic action sequences and sweet sentiment as Marshall learns the value of being the team member who never gives up. “Sometimes I think you’d be better off without a clumsy pup like me,” he laments in a moment of crippling self-doubt. Cue a gooey flashback to justify the firefighting hound’s promotion to lead canine for this expedition.

Brunker and Barlen’s script keeps a tight leash on character development besides Marshall, but gentle humour consistently raises a smile. “I’m a bulldog and this is as fast as I can go,” wheezes and puffs poor Rubble as the team races through the jungle to avoid a rampaging predator. The Dino Movie learns from the best – Toy Story 3 – about how to engineer jeopardy in a fiery final sequence and venerate courage and tenacity. To quote Ryder: buckle up pups!

Comedy

Super Troopers 3 (15)

Review: A second sequel to Jay Chandrasekhar’s goofy 2001 comedy chronicling the misadventures and outrageous misfortunes of a troupe of hapless Vermont State Troopers is almost as criminally unfunny as its crude and xenophobic predecessor. Subtitled Farva’s Wedding, audiences should say “I don’t” in the strongest possible terms to this misfiring caper which fails to channel the anarchic spirit of the Police Academy series. The full-throated tease for a fourth film before the end credits feels like compelling grounds to enter an insanity plea on behalf of the writing team, American comedy troupe Broken Lizard aka Chandrasekhar, Kevin Hefferman, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske.

Farva (Hefferman) saves Thorny’s sister Sarita (Hannah Simone) from a car accident and her gratitude quickly turns into love. Plans for a lavish Indian wedding ceremony in a barn owned by Baker Buchanan (Chace Crawford) and his family take shape, including the entrance of the groom atop an elephant. The bride’s parents (Iqbal Theba, Sakina Jaffrey) fly in for the occasion but Thorny (Chandrasekhar) is in no mood for celebration. He is determined to break up the lovebirds, exploiting his position of power as Farva’s best man to expose the groom’s worst qualities.

Fellow troopers Foster (Soter), Mac (Lemme) and Rabbit (Stolhanske) and eager-to-please rookie Coy Burns (Andrew Dismukes) are caught in the crossfire of interdepartmental warfare. Meanwhile, Captain Todd Markowski (Nat Faxon) struggles to earn respect from his men following the retirement of predecessor John O’Hagen (Brian Cox) as he investigates the rise of a new drug called Canadian Crystal.

Super Troopers 3 trades heavily on nostalgia for the original but my good will was exhausted well before the end credits rolled on the lamentable second film and the script for this tepid tomfoolery repeats past mistakes. A running joke about Captain Markowski being racist flatlines a good hour before scriptwriters puts the gag out of its misery. Foster’s on-off relationship with Spurbury Police chief Ursula Hansen (Marisa Coughlan) is given just enough screen time to register as an afterthought.

A half-hearted jab at electric cars sets up a bonkers homage to Han Solo being frozen in carbonite in Return Of The Jedi with nods to The Dukes Of Hazzard and Knight Rider, while the unnecessary physical humour with the elephant at Farva’s wedding sparks queasy flashbacks to a protracted set piece in Sacha Baron Cohen’s so-called 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimsby. Cox dials in his performance as the former captain who refuses to accept retirement and hangs around trooper headquarters like a bad smell. During a quieter moment between the moustachioed menaces, one officer wonders aloud, “Is it possible we’re no longer the cool guys in our own story?” Yes, without question.