One of the many great things about being a parent is seeing your child develop an interest in reading. Like millions before me, I first heard of Dav Pilkey through his hugely popular Captain Underpants books, which became a 'must-have' in our house.
In more recent times he's developed another hero for very young readers: Dog Man. The character has become a publishing phenomenon, so much so that DreamWorks decided to bring him to the big screen.
For the uninitiated out there, Dog Man is the happy result of a tragic incident. Police officer Knight and his loyal canine Greg the Dog get blown up while trying to defuse a bomb and end up in hospital.
Despite the best efforts of the medics, Knight's head and Greg's body are beyond repair. The only way they can both be saved is if the dog's head is sown on to the cop's body. Dog Man is born!
Determined to continue catching bad guys, Dog Man (voiced by director Peter Hastings, who also directed the Captain Undrpants TV show) also has to win over his sceptical Chief (Lil Rel Howery), who needs to be convinced that a part-dog, part-man police officer is an asset to the force.
Dog Man's first major criminal challenge comes in the shape of feline supervillain Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson). Petey is determined to take over the world and decides to clone himself in order to double his ability for mayhem.
It doesn't quite go to plan though, as Li'l Petey (Lucas Hopkins Calderon) bonds with Dog Man.
Adding another twist, the evil Flippy the Fish (a fine turn from Ricky Gervais) comes along to cause havoc and create a series of adventures for Dog Man.
The animated film also features Isla Fisher voicing TV reporter Sarah Hatoff. Along with her cameraman Seamus (Billy Boyd), she follows Dog Man as he collars crooks in between catching balls and frisbees.
I'm many decades beyond its target audience, but I thought Dog Man was great fun. Young kids will just lap it up and come back for more.
