DC's League of Super Pets Review
I’m a couple months late but I finally got around to watching DC’s League of Super Pets. My excitement for this movie has kind of been like a roller coaster. When the first announced it I was actually pretty excited for it, but the first trailer didn’t really work for me. But as we got more trailers my excitement started to increase a good bit. And the movie came out, and it got pretty positive reviews. But I wasn’t able to check it out in the theaters, so how is the movie? Let’s get started!
The Good:
And for me the best thing about this movie is that it’s just a fun piece of family entertainment. That is what the movie aimed to do, and that’s what the movie delivered. Where you get plenty of heart, humor, and action to keep everybody entertained. When I went into this movie I expected it to be a fun family adventure, that I had a fun time with and that’s what I got. I can’t imagine this movie will go down in history as one of the best animated movies of all time, one of the best DC movies of all time. But I think it’s legacy will be positive and people remembering it as a fun family adventure with solid characters and a fun voice cast.
Speaking of the voice cast, it is very fun. Half of the cast here is this big A-list actor that has a distinct voice that when they are talking you know exactly who it is. And with this movie you do get the pairing of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. Who are so much fun together, and have great chemistry between the two of them. Wether they are in a live action movie or an animated movie they are a lot of fun together. You also have Keanu Reeves as Batman which is casting that I never thought I would get, but I’m so glad we have it. Even if this is the only time in which Keanu Reeves voices Batman. It’s still going to be very cool that Keanu Reeves has voiced Batman in an animated DC movie. And he gets some of the best laughs of the entire movie, just his dry pan sense of humor just works. And then you also have John Krasinski as Superman, who doesn’t steal the show as much but is still fun to see or I guess in this case, hear Krasinski voice Superman.
Another thing here is that the movie has a lot of easter eggs and references to the DC comics. They are just fun, some of them I’m not sure kids will be able to catch them but I think older people might catch them. Superman the Movie and several Batman movies are mentioned and teased through-out the movie and all of them are fun. In the background while in Metropolis you see billboards referencing other DC heroes and villains. And there is an end-credit scene that is just great, it’s a great reference to an upcoming project. That might also be setting up a sequel to this movie, if that is the case it could be really really funny.
And tied to that, this is a movie that has a lot of humor inside of it. There are plenty of jokes that either will make you chuckle or laugh out loud. Like I said before Keanu Reeves’ Batman is probably the funniest character, he is a scene stealer that has some great jokes. Maybe the best scene of the movie is towards the end with Batman and Ace, if you’ve seen the movie then you know what I’m talking about. But all through-out the movie there are some really solid jokes that will put a smile on your face.
Finally, it’s just really impressive what film studios are able to do with their animated movies. Where the animation style in this is simply beautiful and great. Of the three major animated movies this year Turning Red, Lightyear, and now this movie I think this is easily the best looking animated movie of the year. And it’s great to look at, you get several gorgoeus shots of Krypto and Superman flying around Metropolis. And since the animation style looks so good the action is more dynamic and better shot then it might otherwise be.
The Bad:
And the big thing here is that the movie follows a pretty familiar story template for these types of movies. It feels a bit like Toy Story, that’s the closest reference point I can give this movie. Where Krypto is Superman’s best friend, but is jealous when Lois Lane enters the picture so he starts acting jealous. He meets a group of people along the way and learns to be more humble. We’ve seen this exact story template done before, and done better. And they didn’t try and do anything new with the story, I was hoping they would add in a twist or turn into the mix to change the formula up just a little bit, but they didn’t. So we are left with a pretty generic and familiar story that we’ve see before and done better.
Also you have Kate McKinnon voicing the main villain of the movie, Lulu. And I’ve just never liked Kate McKinnon she’s never made me laugh and I’ve always found her to be annoying. And this movie is no exception, she’s annoying and the character just isn’t compelling to me. It’s just Kate McKinnon being herself in a DC animated where she’s playing an evil hamster. So I really wish they got literally anybody else to play this character.
Final Thoughts: DC’s League of Super Pets is a fun addition to the comic book movie genre and the DC canon of movies. With this movie you get plenty of fun characters voiced by great actors, Keanu Reeves as Batman will be the stand-out for me. It’s filled with great jokes, great animation, and a bunch of easter eggs for DC fans. And to package all of my thoughts up this is a movie that I think delivers on what the trailers promised. If you are looking a fun way to spend 1 hour and 45 minutes with the whole family, this will be the movie for you.
The Score: 8.4/10 (B)
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