By Ica Hontiveros-Cheng
Having your kid watch a movie in the cinema is like a right of passage. For the kids it’s a milestone too, and something that they’ll never forget. My first movie was the local version of Princess Sarah starring Camille Pratts. For Luke, his first movie was Secret Life of Pets 2. After the pandemic, and knowing that he will relatively behave for popcorn, he saw Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie in the cinema. His previous screening of Netflix’s The Monkey King had a different setup with kids and adults sitting on the floor with bean bags.
I’ve seen a couple of Paw Patrol episodes (because of Luke) and I’m familiar with the premise, dogs riding cars saves the day, there’s a villainous Mayor with cats, etc. etc. But of course, things are bigger and better when its a movie adaptation of a kid’s movie, the animation alone is already very impressive, from the fuzzy strands of Skye’s fur, to the small circles on their black noses, you can almost determine the texture of the dogs and pups with how good the animation is.
Storywise, the film felt like it was taking a swipe at the many superhero movies which both kids, and kids at heart have enjoyed over the years. My brother, who was with us at the screening, as an additional help for Luke even pointed out that Ryder was kind of like Iron Man to the pups, while the crystals were like the Infinity Stones from the Avengers movies, but I digress.
A meteor with powerful crystals give the pups super powers! I liked how through this plot, the film teaches the little kids some life lessons, the runt of the litter, Skye voiced by the talented McKenna Grace finally believes that no pup is too small and proves to herself and to everyone that the biggest amount of courage can be found in the smallest bodies. I think i myself, even if I was the parent accompanying my child for the movie, could relate to Skye, being roughly around 4’11 in height. I’ve always had the need to prove myself, which probably explains my go-getter attitude. Okay, I didn’t expect to analyze myself in a kid’s movie, but there you go.
Speaking of analyzing…
For Liberty, one of the dogs in Paw Patrol, she doesn’t discover her powers from the crystals right away. She tries to copy what the other dog’s powers are, but of course, they don’t work. As with most movies, she finally discovers her powers much later and during a crucial point in the story. My son Luke is diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay, at six years old he still hasn’t said a word. He has been doing therapy since 2020. It didn’t dawn on me while watching the film, but it only came to me as I am writing my review, not all kids develop and get “their powers” at the same time. Some of them may take a while, like Luke, and so many other kids diagnosed with delays or who are in the spectrum. And as a parent of a special needs child, I want to show my appreciation to the writers of the film for including this bit in the story. Whether intentional or not, I feel that my kid is seen and has a place, maybe I can even use Liberty’s story as a way to explain to other kids why Luke hasn’t gotten his superpowers yet.
Dammit Paw Patrol, why you gotta make me cry at 10:00 in the evening? *wipes away tear*.
Seeing a movie in cinemas is always an experience, whether it is the booming sound of an exploding atomic bomb in Oppenheimer, or its the group scares and laughs in horror movies like Insidious or The Nun, there’s a different experience that each film, or genre gives in the cinema, and that also goes the same for children’s movies. It may be tempting to have them stay at home and let them watch their favorite shows from a streaming device, but trust me, when they are old enough and can sit through a movie, they will remember that you took them to see this movie, or that movie. It’s a core memory, it’s an experience, it’s a rite of passage. And yeah, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie just might be that special movie that your kids remember when they’re much older.
Who knows, when Luke does finally speak, maybe he’ll say that he remembered seeing Paw Patrol The Mighty in the cinema. Hey, a mother can hope right?