Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime side by side in Metropolis. However, Krypto must master his own powers for a rescue mission when Superman is kidnapped.
Review: When I think of DC movies, I think of a bag of Chex Mix—a mix of flavours where one is my favourite, a couple are decent and the rest I’m throwing out with the garbage. Their filmography might not be consistent but every now and again Warner Bros and friends surprise me with a genuinely good movie, and DC League of Super Pets is one of them. Trust me, I’m just as shocked as you are.
Krypto the Superdog (Dwayne Johnson) has been best buddies, companion and “protector” of Superman (John Krasinski) since his fateful escape from the dying planet of Krypton. But now Supes is all grown up and in love with intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde), leaving Krypto feeling unsure of his place in their friendship. Supes decides the best thing to do is find some four-legged friends for Krypto which takes him to an animal shelter where we meet Ace (Kevin Hart) a deeply protective and loyal dog, Chip (Diego Luna) a high strung squirrel, Merton (Natasha Lyonne) an old, near-sighted tortoise and PB (Vanessa Bayer) a precocious pig who’s also a huge Wonder Woman fan. After Superman and the Justice League battles Lex Luthor (Marc Maron) and locks him up, they end up on the losing end of a fight with a maniacal guinea pig named Lulu (Kate McKinnon) and it’s up to Krypto and his unlikely friends to save them and the world.
While the animation is smooth, colourful and fun to behold, it’s the voice cast and smart writing that truly takes League of Super Pets over the top. Johnson and Hart have collaborated so many times it seems the natural choice to make them the leads here, but the surprising element was how well Kevin Hart played the straight guy. Krypto is exactly what I would’ve expected from Johnson, a dog that’s a bit egotistical and super confident of his abilities, but due to his all-encompassing focus on his bestie he never took the time to make any other friends or enjoy the simple pleasures of just being a dog. Hart on the other hand hits all the right emotional notes with Ace, he’s a dog who has a backstory that could rival anything Pixar could come up with to break audiences’ heart, but he’s also genuinely funny. Hart, who is more known for his over the top performances, dials down the “loudness” and instead we get a lot of dry wit and sarcasm that fits perfectly here.
Kate McKinnon could play the role of Lulu in her sleep and once again had me in stiches as the super intelligent lab guinea pig who, due to being a “pet” at LexCorp, has world domination on her mind as well as a certain bald-headed villain. It definitely seems like Brain from the Pinky and the Brain cartoons was the inspiration here, but it works so I’m not mad at it. A couple of other standouts for me were Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange is the New Black) as Merton the tortoise and Keanu Reeves as Batman. I cracked up every time they were on screen and can I say Reeves as Batman is most definitely something we need more of?!
The design choices for the Justice League characters was also a nice surprise. We’ve seen the same thing so many times it’s nice when they change it up a bit, and for what this was I think it worked really well.
It’s movies such as this one that keeps the superhero genre worth coming back to. The lessons about friendship and the family you choose may not be new ones but they managed to deliver them in a way that wasn’t overbearing, the jokes landed each and every time (squeaky Bruce anyone?) and there’s not a pet owner out there who’s going to walk away from this one without a new appreciation for their furry (or scaly) little friends.
Score 7.5 out of 10
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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So have you checked out League of Super Pets? What did you think of it? And you can check out more comic book and family friendly animated content below:
