We’ve met the Super Friends, now let’s meet the Super-Pets. Krypto the Superdog has been in the comics since 1955 and almost 70 years later, he’s finally getting his theatrical film debut with the DC League Of Super-Pets. How is the iconic superhero canine’s debut on the big screen?

Super-Pets Assemble!

For one thing, DC League Of Super-Pets definitely feels like a DC movie. The whole Justice League is there, and it’s interesting how they went with the Jessica Cruz version of Green Lantern for this one. Sure, this movie isn’t about the Justice League, but some of the best jokes in the movie poke fun at these superheroes, including a running gag with Wonder Woman’s invisible jet. Most of them are just there, but John Krasinski can play a surprisingly good Superman. Someone should really cast him in a leading role in a superhero movie one of these days. No, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness doesn’t count because that was a cameo. Also, Keanu Reeves’ Batman is hilarious and a highlight of the movie, which proves yet again that Marvel or DC should really snap him up for a big role.

The plot in DC League Of Super-Pets is pretty simple and is exactly what the trailers have shown; the Justice League falls to someone and Krypto (Dwayne Johnson) will have to rally the Super-Pets to save the day. The promotional material for the movie doesn’t spoil the villain and I think that was a great decision. It’s not that it’s such a great twist, because it’s really not, since the main antagonist gets revealed early on in the movie. I can say that the main villain is a great choice because Kate McKinnon really hams it up in her performance. Without spoiling anything, her character reminds me a lot of Kevin Hart’s evil bunny Snowball from The Secret Life Of Pets.

Speaking of Kevin Hart, he voices Ace the dog, while the rest of the main cast in DC League Of Super-Pets include PB the pig (Vanessa Bayer), Merton the turtle (Natasha Lyonne), and Chip the squirrel (Diego Luna). They’re all mostly alright, but the focus of the movie is geared towards Krypto and Ace, with the rest of the Super-Pets getting the short stick in terms of character development and screen time. We don’t learn much about the other three Super-Pets, which is a bit expected, considering that only Krypto and Ace come directly from the comics.  Chip and Merton have comic book roots too, but they’re twists and spins of existing characters, instead of actually being what they are from the comics like Krypto and Ace (who are also Super-Pets in the comics).

Animated movies are often catered to kids, and DC League Of Super Pets is no exception. However, there are some jokes and gags in the movie that are more for older viewers or some that dig at DC stuff (like the aforementioned poking fun at the Justice League). There are moments where I unexpectedly laughed out loud, but there are also some jokes that don’t land as well as they should (which are more for kids). Also, this movie has a surprising amount of action scenes too, and one highlight for me was a scene where the Super-Pets fought against an adorable kitten that could shoot missiles from its tail and cough up grenades instead of hairballs (this movie is crazier than its simple premise suggests).

Who Let The (Super) Dogs Out?

In hindsight, that’s probably why I laughed more than I expected at some of the jokes. They can sometimes be outrageous, wacky and out of left field, which I like. DC League Of Super-Pets can be a fun time for the whole family.With the current state of the DECU (DC Extended Universe) and without digressing off-topic too much, this animated movie is probably the closest thing to a Superman movie featuring the Justice League that we’ll get on the big screen for a long time to come.

Oh, and here’s a little PSA: stay back while the credits roll. There’s a funny post-credits scene that DC Comics fans will surely appreciate. In addition, there’s also a special treat exclusively in the Malaysian version of the movie for Malaysians to enjoy; Sean Lee voices Waffle the dog in a brief but amusing role. What’s so amusing? He actually speaks Manglish with a healthy smattering of Malay, so look out for that.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100

We received an early screener of DC League Of Superpets courtesy of Warner Bros. Malaysia. DC League Of Superpets is slated to premiere in Malaysian cinemas on 28 July 2022.