(Review) “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” is big, loud and surprisingly sweet

I’ll also admit that I’m not exactly the target audience. When my son was preschool age, I was very conscious of limiting cartoons and movies that were highly stimulating or presented wildly unrealistic situations, and because of that “Paw Patrol” was never a favorite of mine.

“Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” certainly doesn’t dial any of that back.

Is “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” too intense for young kids?

The beginning of the movie felt a little too dramatic to me, and things don’t exactly calm down from there. There’s fire, dynamite, dinosaur chases, a volcano and plenty of characters finding themselves in danger. There isn’t actual violence, though. Most of the peril involves things such as slipping off rocks, getting trapped in the jungle or needing to escape the latest predicament.

The movie centers on Marshall, but his storyline ultimately delivers a sweet message about perseverance. There are also a couple of genuinely good teaching moments woven into all the dino-sized chaos.

Catch a glimpse of the movie and one of the new star characters, Rex, in the social media video below.

Rex steals the show for my 8-year-old

For my son, the standout was Rex, the wheelchair-using pup who joins the crew on their adventure. After the movie, I explained that Hayden Chamberlen, the child actor who voices Rex, also uses a wheelchair, just as Rex uses wheels to get around.

My son’s response was simple: “That’s perfect.”

Meanwhile, my mom had a very different favorite: Rhubarb, the tiny dinosaur. So our three generations left the theater with decidedly different character allegiances.

Once I let go of my skepticism about the movie’s highly fantastical situations and accepted it for what it was, I had fun, too.

Related: Paw Patrol has been busy this year. AMC theaters has a collectible lineup that follows Burger King’s Paw Patrol Dino Movie toys released in July.

Gorgeous animation

The animation is particularly impressive. The island environments are colorful and often gorgeous, with significantly more visual detail than I expected from a “Paw Patrol” movie.

Parents of younger children should also know that this is a very loud and highly stimulating movie. Between the music, dinosaurs, volcanic danger and near-constant action, there is a lot happening on screen. I would personally hesitate to recommend it for children 5 and younger, particularly those sensitive to loud noises or intense visual stimulation. For kids around ages 6 to 8, it feels much better suited.

I’m glad we brought hearing protection along and recommend other parents do the same.

Despite all the action, I found “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” more enjoyable for young children than several recent animated films that lean heavily into dramatic or emotionally intense storytelling. There’s plenty of peril here, but underneath it is a fairly straightforward story about helping others, solving problems and continuing to try when things don’t go as planned.

No, none of the movie’s plot or situations are remotely realistic. Still, “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” is cute, colorful and entertaining.

Runtime: 1 hour, 28 minutes
Rating: PG for mild action/peril
In theaters: Aug. 14, 2026

We did not see a post-credits scene, although I can’t definitively say there isn’t one tucked at the very end of the credits. By the time the movie was over, my 8-year-old was ready to get out of the theater, so we didn’t stick around through every last credit to find out.