When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born. Based on Dav Pilkey’s children’s graphic novel series, a film by Peter Hastings, featuring the voices of Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Lucas Hopkins Calderon, and Ricky Gervais.

During a high-stakes chase after the infamous criminal cat Petey (Pete Davidson), Officer Knight (Peter Hastings) and his canine partner Greg end up trapped on the roof of an abandoned warehouse with one of Petey’s time bombs. Even though the Police Chief (Lil Rel Howery) assures them the building is empty, Knight and Greg are determined to defuse the bomb themselves.

Knight snips the wrong wire, and the bomb explodes, leaving Knight with critical head injuries and Greg’s body severely damaged. The doctor (Rahnuma Panthaky) delivers the grim news that she can’t save both of them. However, the nurse (Maggie Wheeler) proposes an unconventional solution: attaching Greg’s head to Knight’s body. The doctor, surprisingly enthusiastic about this bizarre idea, agrees, and together they create Dog Man, an extraordinary human-canine hybrid.

Dog Man becomes an overnight sensation and the city’s beloved hero as “Supa Cop,” winning the hearts of Ohkay City’s citizens. He solves crimes with ease, entertains the elderly by playing piano at retirement homes, and even pitches a no-hitter at a charity softball game.

Meanwhile, back at Knight’s house, Dog Man grows lonely and depressed. Knight had asked him to look after his girlfriend if anything happened to him, but when Dog Man arrives, a realtor (Melissa Villaseñor) delivers the harsh truth: Knight’s girlfriend has already moved on with a new boyfriend and even a new dog, leaving Dog Man truly alone.

The Chief assigns Dog Man to capture Petey, the repeat escapee whose jailbreaks are making the Chief look incompetent to the irritable Mayor (Cheri Oteri). Despite Dog Man’s success in repeatedly apprehending Petey and throwing him back in Cat Jail, the crafty feline manages to break out every single time, continuing their ongoing game of cat-and-dog.

The Mayor grows increasingly frustrated with each of Petey’s escapes, directing her anger at the Chief rather than acknowledging her own brother’s incompetence running Cat Jail. She eventually orders the Chief to remove Dog Man from the Petey case, demanding the regular police force handle the captures instead. With his hands tied, the Chief reluctantly agrees to pull Dog Man off the case.

The next day, Chief assigns Dog Man to guard the body of Flippy, an evil psychokinetic fish as a scientist (Laraine Newman) at the Supa Awesome Science Center Ova There wants to study Flippy’s brain to uncover the secrets behind his mysterious psychokinetic powers.

Petey steals Flippy’s corpse from the Science Center, planning to use Living Spray to bring him back to life. His plan is to harness Flippy’s powers to defeat Dog Man and ultimately take over the world. Back at his secret lab, Petey cranks Flippy’s evil powers to the max and reprograms his brain to target and destroy all do-gooders.

Petey’s evil plan hits a snag when he tries to clone himself using a machine he ordered online after firing his assistant. He had hoped the clone would help him with his schemes, but instead, the machine creates a copy of him in the form of an innocent kitten, Li’l Petey (Lucas Hopkins Calderon). Disgusted by Li’l Petey’s goodness, Petey eventually abandons the kitten, leaving him in a cardboard box in the middle of the city.

Dog Man saves the kitten from being run over by a pizza truck and takes him back to his doghouse on the outskirts of the city. Over time, Dog Man begins to develop a father-son-like bond with the kitten, completely unaware that the kitten is actually a clone of Petey.

Written and directed by American filmmaker Peter Hastings, DOG MAN is an animated film based on Dav Pilkey’s children’s graphic novel series of the same name. The story revolves around the adventures of the titular character, Dog Man, a half-man, half-dog hybrid who works as a police officer.

Dog Man is a children’s graphic novel series created by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. It is a spin-off and part of the universe of Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series.Dog Man by is an incredibly popular and influential series in the world of children’s literature. It has sold over 60 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 47 languages, consistently topping bestseller lists globally. The series’ impact extends beyond sales; it has inspired a stage musical, a video game, and an animated film released in January 2025. Dog Man has played a significant role in popularizing children’s graphic novels, contributing to a shift in the comic book industry towards more kid-friendly content.

While the film has its entertaining moments, I feel the narrative includes too many subplots, which might confuse younger viewers. Adults, on the other hand, may find the overall story chaotic and disjointed.

The Mayor stands out as one of the most illogical characters, but the film never really explains why she’s the only one who dislikes Dog Man. After all, it’s clearly not Dog Man’s fault that Petey keeps escaping from prison.

Another point that puzzles me is why Petey and Li’l Petey can speak English, but Dog Man can’t. Is this something the film expects viewers to understand by reading the original graphic novel?

DOG MAN premiered at Festival de l’Alpe d’Huez on 15 January 2025. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 31 Janurary.