Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie Review

Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie is the third film in the Paw Patrol franchise. This time, Marshall the Fire Pup is the centre of attention.

When the Paw Patrol rescues a family at sea, they discover an island filled with dinosaurs. This discovery makes the Paw Patrol even more popular, and scientists come to study the prehistoric environment. However, the discovery also draws the attention of Paw Patrol’s arch-nemesis, Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo), who plans to extract the island’s diamonds.

The Paw Patrol franchise is geared to young kids, and any review of their films needs that consideration in mind. My 6-year-old nephew was captivated by it, and the rest of the children seemed to have enjoyed it. I probably would have enjoyed it a lot if I were a child since it would have things I like: cute animals, International Rescue-style missions, and dinosaurs.

Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie had enough excitement for young audiences. There were sequences involving gliding over the island and seeing the dinosaur, going on rescue missions, and having a thrilling climax. The Paw Patrol have been made on a modest budget compared to their Hollywood rivals, but they are still well animated and do the job. The Jurassic Park movies were clearly an influence, from the awe-inspiring sequences of seeing the prehistoric like in the first film, Rumble being tormented by a group of small dinosaurs, like the Compsognathus in The Lost World, and there was a stand-off between a T-Rex and a Spinosaurus, like in Jurassic Park III. The climax of the film felt like a nod to Fallen Kingdom. The Paw Patrol even get a pet baby T-Rex who felt like he was inspired by Yoshi from the Super Mario franchise and Sid’s adopted dino babies in the Ice Age film.

All three Paw Patrol follow a strict template. They start with the Paw Patrol on a rescue mission, which shows how capable they are, but one of them has a crisis of confidence which they have to overcome. The first film was about Chase overcoming his fear, and in the second film, Skye was self-conscious about her small size. Marshall’s concern was that his clumsiness would put his friends in danger. Marshall needed to overcome this fear so he could be an effective rescuer. Marshall was given positive reassurance because he was told he was selected for Paw Patrol because of his determination, and mistakes can be a learning opportunity. These were nice, positive messages for children. However, despite Marshall being the clumsy pup, most of the incidents weren’t his fault. His only clumsy moment came at the beginning when the pups were playing a game of American football.

The film introduced the character of Rex. He was a pup who had lived on the island for two years and adapted well. Rex was a disabled character, but he had a positive attitude, and he didn’t let his disability hold him back. It was a nice positive representation of characters with disabilities, and hopefully Rex can give young people with disabilities a confidence boost.

Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie offered more of the same from the Paw Patrol property. It was a safe, formulaic film with nice messages and rescue sequences to please youngsters.