In 2016, the children’s graphic novel series, Dog Man, written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey, was released and was the beginning of a highly successful book series, with 14 books published as of this writing. It is set in the same universe as Captain Underpants, who got his feature film in 2017. Now, in 2025, Dog Man gets his long-awaited movie adaptation thanks to DreamWorks. It is directed, written and stars Peter Hastings, and also stars Pete Davidson, Lucas Hopkins Calderon, Isla Fisher, Lil Rel Howery, and Ricky Gervais to name a few. It is now howling in cinemas worldwide.

Officer Knight and his trusty dog, best friend and partner, Greg, fight crime together to protect Ohkay City from all evildoers. On one fateful day, however, their arch nemesis, the self-proclaimed “world’s most evilest cat”, Petey, plants a bomb in the city, and Officer Knight and Greg attempt to diffuse the bomb but cut the wrong wire and get caught in the blast. They somehow survive, but Officer Knight’s head and Greg’s body are beyond repair. The surgeon decides to attach Greg’s head to Officer Knight’s body, and together, they become, Dog Man!

Peter Hastings serves as director and writer and stars as the voice of Dog Man, Officer Knight, and Greg before they were combined. Dog Man doesn’t speak any words but still conveys a lot of emotion through his barking, whimpering, and body language. With the head of a dog and the body of a man, he has more of Greg’s personality but with Officer Knight’s smarts. Even though his natural dog instincts sometimes get the better of him, he has a heart of gold with a high success rate of solving crime, even if the Mayor doesn’t agree. Dog Man backs down from a case, a crisis or a villain, no matter how ruff they may be.

Isla Fisher stars as Sarah Hatoff, a news reporter originally from Australia. The Australian actress adds authenticity to an Australian character, helping bring her to life. Since Dog Man can’t speak, Sarah, being a reporter always on the scene with her cameraman, Seamus (voiced by Billy Boyd), helps tell the story by describing the current events, usually involving Dog Man. She also adds to the comedy, especially whenever she’s interviewing the Chief of police.

Lil Red Howery voices the Chief, who runs the police station where Dog Man works. He is hot-headed and short-tempered but cares deeply for people, especially Dog Man, since he has a long history with Officer Knight and Greg. Almost anytime you hear Lil Red Howery speak, you can’t help but laugh at his delivery as the Chief. Even though he’s easily irritated by Dog Man, he does his best to assist and support him when the odds are against him.

Pete Davidson lends his voice as Petey, the villainous, quick-witted, arrogant orange cat and longtime rival of Dog Man. Petey has many gadgets and vehicles at his disposal and lives in a not-so-subtle hideout. No matter how many times he comes up short against Dog Man and, previously, Officer Knight and Greg, he escapes prison just as many times. In his latest scheme, he attempts to clone himself but ends up with a child version of himself before reading the instruction manual, stating he has to wait 18 years for the clone to grow fully.

His clone sees Petey as his father, much to his chagrin, and he is named Li’l Petey. Lucas Hopkins Calderon voices him and is sweet, adorable and kind-hearted, the complete opposite of Petey. His inclusion helps uncover more of Petey’s past and why he commits to life as a villain.

Petey reluctantly takes Li’l Petey on his villainous escapades, which complicates things in hilarious fashion. No matter how much Petey denies there’s any good in him and has any care for the son he never asked for, his softer side slowly begins to show, adding to his character development.

Ricky Gervais portrays Flippy the Fish, another villain that Dog Man must face. More of him is revealed in the second half of the film, but he becomes a whole new threat that Dog Man has never faced before. The film also stars Cheri Oteri as the Mayor of Ohkay City, Poppy Liu as the Butler, plus Stephen Root, Luenell, Kate Micucci, Melissa Villaseñor, Yung Gravy, and others who all get their moments throughout the film.

Like the books, the film is full of memorable and hilarious moments. Amongst all the slapstick comedy, there are also many heartfelt moments, showing that even the always-upbeat Dog Man and the dastardly Petey occasionally have moments of feeling down and vulnerable. There is also no shortage of action, with its share of comedic and emotional moments. It’s clear there was a lot of heart and soul put into this adaptation of a best-selling children’s book series.

The film adaptation mixes the stories of the three books and condenses them into a 90-minute movie. Unfortunately, this means certain elements from the books were left out, and few things were changed to suit the film. Thankfully, for the most part, the movie still manages to remain true to the books, highlighting its best moments on the big screen.

What also stays mostly true to the books is the movie’s art style. The books have simple character designs that do more than enough to tell the stories and convey emotions. In the film, every character looks like a proper 3D version of their graphic novel counterparts.

It is complemented by the low frame rate animation, making it look like stop-motion animation. Dog Man’s face is mostly seen from the side and barely from the front, which is also reflected in the film. The books have a lot of simple coloured backgrounds that wouldn’t translate well to film, so Ohkay City is given so much life in this adaptation, and it sticks to the Dog Man art style.

The movie’s soundtrack, composed by Tom Howe, has something for every occasion, whether it’s an action-packed chase scene through the city, taking on an evil villain, a moment of crisis, or even the more sombre and heartfelt moments. The catchy main track, ‘Supa Good!!!’ which features samples of James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good,’ was performed by Yung Gravy, who also has a cameo role as one of the prison inmates.

Dog Man is one of the best film adaptations of a children’s book series. Even with some changes, it does so much justice to the source material. It is full of charm, character development, action, hilarious moments, puns, pop culture references, emotion and heartfelt moments. The relationship between Petey and Li’l Petey does get a bigger feature than expected, but the film never forgets that Dog Man is the heart and soul of the film and shows his influence on everyone.

With everything it has and mixing three books into a single film, it’s amazing that this 90-minute movie never feels rushed, never has a dull moment and somehow balances everything. It may be marketed as a kids’ film, but it’s a film made for all ages that even parents will leave the cinema giggling. It would be a real crime if this doesn’t receive a well-deserved sequel, and there is no shortage of stories with 11 more books that could be adapted, as well as Li’l Petey’s spinoff series. Until then, Dog Man is a barking good time and would be a criminal offence for any family to miss.

Written by: Sammy Hanson