Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsMore gender stereotypes, poor diversity
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2021
Though females are more than half the population, just one of the seven Paw Patrol members is female. And how does this female team member contribute? She uses her "Nanny Drone" to catch bad guys, of course. After all, even cartoon canine super heroines are limited by traditional female roles.
The film pretends to be diverse by adding a couple of minority characters: The first is a Black male who, after wrecking his truck, is a coward who lacks the bravery of a puppy. The film includes a Black female scientist, but she quickly abandons her ethics and submits to the powerful white guy when he snaps at her a little and needs the little boy to save the day. The Hispanic female shopkeeper is portrayed as unintelligent: with numerous missing dog posters displayed on the store wall, she still needs the little boy to help her see that that there's a dog napping problem. A sprinkling of other diverse-looking characters are presented, but these are no/minimal speaking roles; nearly all the actual acting roles for this film go to White men. Even at the obedience school, seven of eight dogs are male.
The one redeeming character in this movie: Liberty, the female dog who helps them navigate the city.
Overall, this is not a film that I would show to my children.
