Animated mutt: The high-kicking Dog Man in ‘Dog Man’.
DOG MAN ***1/2 (95 minutes) G
Plenty of enjoyment to be had with this furiously fast and funny, wonderfully loopy animated lark, a good-vs-evil battle between a dog whose head has been transplanted onto the body of a brain-dead cop and an evil cat.
As crazy and kinetic as the plotting gets the film is anchored by a cleverly devised emotional lynchpin, bonding the two warring characters via the evil cat’s clone, a cute kitten whose naivety imbues it with transformative, heart-melting powers. Lovely stuff.
Based on the books by Dav Pilkey, this is a spin-off of 2017’s Captain Underpants, its next-level animation style full of warm hues and rough edges, designed to counter the cool precision we usually get with digital.
All up, a delightful film from go to whoa, with Ricky Gervais popping up as the voice of a super-evil fish that can turn buildings into monsters.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE *** (101 minutes) PG
A diverting if unexceptional movification of the video game, A Minecraft Movie sports a largely incomprehensible story about an office drone (Jack Black) who builds his own world inside the Minecraft game before being trapped in an evil netherworld.
His unwitting saviour is a broke former video game champion (Jason Momoa) who is drawn into the other world via a magic cube.
Boasting a cracking pace and a distinctive look that nicely replicates the block motif of the game, the film is front-loaded with plenty of pre-credit exposition, leading neatly to a pretty funny set-up in which the bulked-up, hirsute Momoa proves himself to be a pretty dab hand at comedy.
In another stamped out comic turn Jack Black is Jack Black. We know he’s a stocky gent, yet far more noticeable is how much Momoa’s physique has swelled since Aquaman. He wears it well, to be sure, but the loose-fitting shirts are hard to ignore.
While kids will love all the fantasy action and movement as the film defaults to the usual chases and battle scenarios, the adults in the auditorium might well find their favourite scenes involving vice principal (Jennifer Coolidge) and her budding romance with a mute Minecraft character.
In a perfect world the studio chief would have said: “Forget all the fantasy world stuff – that’s the movie!”
Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world.
HEAD SOUTH *** (98 minutes) MA
Inspired by his experiences as a music-obsessed Kiwi teen director Jonathan Ogilvie serves up a winning period comedy set in 1979 just as punk was hitting its post-Sex Pistols peak.
The redoubtable Ed Oxenbould plays Angus, a high schooler with a love for Public Image who wants to start his own band and get close to the girl who works in the pharmacy.
The unforced references to music and movies combine with convincing performances and deft stylistic touches to bring the era of suburban grunge to life.
Marton Csokas provides top support as father to Angus, eager to get his mother back in the picture. A gem.
NOVOCAINE NO PAIN ** (110 minutes) MA
One of the many amazing things about Hollywood is its ability to take a really good idea and downscale it into mulch. Novocaine is a prime example.
Bank manager Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) hooks up with an employee Sherry (Amber Midthunder), fascinated by his rare condition that renders him incapable of feeling pain.
Rather than do anything even mildly interesting with this the film instead tries squeezing the premise for comic effect and ickiness value.
It’s a strained quest triggered by a bank robbery where Sherry is taken hostage, prompting Caine to chase the villains, his hot pursuit resulting in fights and various encounters where his condition is played for laughs or cheap “eww” moments.
Nothing wrong with spurts of gratuitous low-rent sensationalism, of course, but here it’s mounted with such a lack of ingenuity or comic spark it unspools as lame. Even the torture scene is yawn-inducing.
Recommended only for those with an undemanding taste for things queasy.