Netflix movie of the day – Paw Patrol: The Movie is easy to mock but your kids will love it

No city’s too big and no bark’s too small for the pup police

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Every day, we cut through the bottomless list of streaming options and recommend something to watch. See all ourNetflix movie of the daypicks, or ourPrime Video movie of the daychoices.

If you’re not responsible for small people thenPaw Patrol: The Movieis not one of thebest Netflix movies. But if you are in charge of little ones then you’ll know how beloved Ryder and the pups are among preschoolers. That means this is a guaranteed kid-pleaser that will give you a break for an hour or so, making it a much better film thanCitizen Kane.

Some people really, really hatePaw Patrol. As a parent of two kids, I am not one of those people. The show was a big favorite for both of my kids for a long time and it gave me the greatest gift a parent of young children could possibly ask for (other than more sleep): time to catch up on stuff, whether that was tidying, using the toilet without an audience or just getting twenty minutes on my phone.

As with the show, the plot here isn’t particularly in-depth: there’s a mayor making a mess, which means Ryder and his fellow pups have to save the day. That’s all we need for the pups to spring into action, working together to solve problems in that familiar wholesome way, and for you to get some time on your phone while the little ones are distracted.

That sounds like I’m damning it with faint praise, and I’m really not.Paw Patrolis funny and goofy – which is why my kids loved it – and while of course there’s the inevitable range of spin-off products in the shops the show, unlike many kids' cartoons, isn’t constantly trying to sell them to you. It has a nice message at its heart and the movie even manages to introduce kids to the idea of mental health issues in a sensitive and age-appropriate way.

AsCommon Sense Mediaput it: “These adorable, selfless rescue pups are irresistible to preschoolers, who will be delighted by the movie’s sweet, simple adventure”. AndABC Radioput it well: “More ambitious but fundamentally the same show the kids have always loved, Paw Patrol gets a big-screen update worthy of putting on the big screen.”

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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.

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