PAW Patrol: The Movie2021

**Verdict: 🥉 COULD SEE ** —unless you’re a Paw Patrol fan, in which case it’s a— Verdict: 🥇 MUST SEE Nickelodeon has been having a day trying to take box office market share while Disney has kept its best kids properties streaming-only (Pixar’s latest 2, Soul and Luca, got the theatrical shaft). With Paw Patrol, all they could muster was a (visually sumptuous) elongated episode of the hit show. Or is it 3 episodes in 1? It’s hard to know by how by-the-formula the story arc is. To its credit and discredit, the Paw Patrol movie keeps the narrative and stakes at the level of their audience. My post-toddler-aged son was eating it up, while my pre-toddler was entranced and even got upset at the level of peril in the first 5 minutes. What’s more, there were no trailers, just Paw Patrol ra-ra clips that hit with remarkable precision. They’re playing to their crowd and getting standing ovations. I appreciated the slower pacing compared to the frenetic Boss Baby types, but the editing was so awkward at times that it pulled you right out of the movie. P.S. The joke about merchandising being their source of income was gold; the same self-referential humor that hit hardest in Nickelodeon’s Dora.