By John Corrado

★★★ (out of 4)

The rescue pups are back for another big screen adventure in PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, a worthy sequel to 2021’s surprisingly good PAW Patrol: The Movie.

This new spinoff film from the popular Canadian children’s TV series and toys, which serves as another co-production between Nickelodeon, Paramount Animation and Toronto’s Spin Master Entertainment, finds its edge by giving the dogs superpowers this time around.

Under the command of preteen kid Ryder (Finn Lee-Epp), the PAW Patrol are made up of dogs Chase (Christian Convery), Skye (Mckenna Grace), Marshall (Christian Corrao), Rubble (Luxton Handspiker), Rocky (Callum Shoniker), Zuma (Nylan Parthipan) and Liberty (Marsai Martin), serving as Adventure City’s de facto police force, firefighting department, and general rescue crew.

When a meteor crash lands in Adventure City, after being pulled closer to earth by mad scientist and live-streamer Victoria “Vee” Vance (Taraji P. Henson), Skye discovers crystals that give the pups various superpowers, from levitation to super speed. Armed with these new Mighty Pup powers, the PAW Patrol must face off against Vance, who wants the powers for her own, and teams up with an imprisoned Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo) to steal the crystals.

If the first movie was about German shepherd Chase overcoming his anxiety, this one is very much Skye’s story (with teen star Mckenna Grace taking over the role from Lily Bartlam, who voiced her in the series and first movie). The little cockapoo is struggling with not having gone through the same growth spurt as the other dogs, and the main narrative focus is on her coming to terms with being the smallest pup in the group and finding her place on the team. This includes a sweet backstory for her partway through that injects some heart into the film.

My only other introduction to PAW Patrol came from the first movie (I’ve never watched the show), and these are prime examples of films that should really be judged based on how well they will play to their target audience of younger children. In this regard, The Mighty Movie is another modest winner. It’s not really made to have a lot of crossover appeal for older audiences, with a fairly simplistic story, but that’s okay. This is a quality movie for kids, including some surprisingly pleasing to look at animation.

This is another solid big screen outing for these adorable canine characters, that knows what it is and doesn’t try to be something more. The film features a decent amount of action and kid-friendly comedy, as well as good messages about teamwork and how each member of the group brings something of value to the team, no matter how small. Backed by another celebrity voice cast (including bit parts for Kim Kardashian and her two kids North and Saint West), it’s a fine choice for families looking to bring the kids to the theatre.

McKenna Grace as “Skye” in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie from Spin Master Entertainment, Nickelodeon Movies, and Paramount Pictures.

Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie opens exclusively in theatres on September 29th. It’s being distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures.