PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (dir. Cal Brunker)
Certificate: U
Running Time: 88 mins
UK Distributor: Paramount Pictures
UK Release Date: 5 August 2026
WHO’S IN PAW PATROL: THE DINO MOVIE?
Carter Young, Hayden Chemberlen, Mckenna Grace, Terry Crews, Ron Pardo, Jennifer Hudson, Jameela Jamil, Henry Bolan, Rain Janjua, Lucien Duncan-Reid, William Desrosiers, Nylan Parthipan, Fortune Feimster, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Bill Nye, Meredith MacNeill
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Cal Brunker (director, writer), Bob Barlen (writer), Laura Clunie, Jennifer Dodge and Toni Stevens (producers), Pinar Toprak (composer), Ed Fuller (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The gang of heroic pups find themselves on an island populated by dinosaurs…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON PAW PATROL: THE DINO MOVIE?
Three and a half years ago, I became an uncle. This may sound biased, but my nephew is the most adorable little boy to have ever walked this planet, and I love every single minute that I get to be with him and fulfil my “funcle” duties. Part of that includes sitting him down in front of the TV now and then to watch various episodes of PAW Patrol, a show that he and many other children his age have become transfixed with for its heroic adventures, adorable characters, and its messages about helping those in need.
But that isn’t the only thing he loves to do. Lately, like most other young boys, he’s developed a significant interest in dinosaurs, to where he knows quite a few of them by their rather complicated scientific names, from the stegosaurus to the tyrannosaurus rex to the pterodactyl (he even remembers that the “p” is silent in that last name!), so he’ll spend a lot of time playing with all the dinosaur toys that my family and I have lovingly spoiled him with, right down to mimicking the munching sounds whenever they eat its prey. You almost have to be there to see how absolutely adorable it all is.
All of that to say, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie feels way too suspiciously as though it was made for nobody else but my three-year-old nephew. The film, directed and co-written by Cal Brunker, is comprised of everything he loves and leans hard into both elements to where it’d be impossible for any other admirer of both dinosaurs and PAW Patrol to walk away disappointed. Needless to say, I anticipate that he’ll enjoy this movie very much, whereas the more adult viewers can take solace in the fact that it is, like the previous two feature-length spin-offs of the pre-school TV franchise, a harmless bit of fluff that offers bright and colourful animation, the most basic of basic storytelling, and enough cutesiness to win over almost anyone.
The film wastes little time getting the titular PAW Patrol – which, for the uninitiated, is a rescue force predominantly made up of young dogs, including the clumsy young firefighter dalmatian Marshall who is our de facto protagonist this time round – to a mysterious island inhabited by dinosaurs, after a massive storm transports them there. They also meet Rex, the only non-prehistoric being living on the island, who helps show them how life among the dinosaurs works, and also when a group of scientists arrive to further investigate the unusual phenomenon. However, they also end up attracting their arch-nemesis Mayor Humdinger, whose insatiably greedy eyes are fixated upon a mountain of fresh diamonds on the island that happens to be at the foot of an active volcano – so you can probably guess what the big climax of this movie is going to revolve around, and what the PAW Patrol will be up against during that final stretch.
By the way, you probably noticed that I didn’t credit any voice actors next to their characters in that last paragraph. That’s because the version of PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie that is screening in British cinemas is, exactly like how the other films were, mostly dubbed over with British voiceover artists, many of whom are not as immediately easy to identify as their original American counterparts. Only the more recognisable guest stars have their voices left intact, such as Terry Crews and comedian Fortune Feimster (as Humdinger’s new hench-people), Bill Nye and Jameela Jamil (as the aforementioned scientists), and the odd yet entirely logical pairing of Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton as a wealthy couple that the PAW Patrol save at the very beginning of the movie. Admittedly, I wasn’t as jarred by it as I was in the last PAW Patrol movie, The Mighty Pups (maybe because I knew to expect it this time), but even though it’s obviously done to appease the familiarity that British children will undoubtedly have around how their favourite characters sound, it is still distracting when you hear the dubbed voices clearly paling next to the more American-sounding supporting players.
Beyond that, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie is as inoffensive as you’d expect it to be. It features plenty of easy-to-understand morals, particularly about protecting the natural world and its various inhabitants, and dialogue that is refreshingly straightforward rather than just cramming in pop culture references every other line, as a much lesser kid-friendly movie like this would (*cough*Animal Farm*cough). There are also a few decent character moments, with Marshall receiving the most dramatic arc here as he contends with often being the one who screws everything up and being too hard on himself because of it, leading to a nice message about being resilient in spite of any obstacles. And of course, it features plenty of dinosaurs to appease anyone who’s still too young for Jurassic Park, including a baby T-Rex named Rhubarb who you can expect to be your kid’s next big thing to put on their Christmas present list to Santa.
The animation is quite pleasant as well, nothing groundbreaking but still packed with strong detail in water rapids, giant cavernous cliff edges, and other environmental areas of this island. It also works in a few shots that embrace the cinematic quality of the story, including a stampede sequence that comes dangerously close to being as deadly as the one that wiped out Mufasa in The Lion King (apologies for the trauma I’ve undoubtedly made you revisit). It’s a nice-looking movie which fits well with the more cartoon-based character designs without feeling too out-of-place, ensuring that younger audiences will be easily fixated on the visuals as much as their parents or guardians will.
In all, it’s completely serviceable family entertainment, as is anything with the title PAW Patrol slapped onto it. My only real complaint is that, because he lives too far away from me, I most likely won’t be able to take my nephew along to the cinema to see it, and I would frankly do anything to see the sheer awe and wonder on his face as he witnesses his two favourite things coming together on the big screen. Either way, he’s in for a good time.
SO, TO SUM UP…
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie is another harmless entry in the kid-friendly movie series spun-off from the preschool TV franchise that boasts plenty of pleasing animation and sweet morals to keep most young children, as well as their parents, reasonably occupied.
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