Even before we get into the Diego Luna of it all, I genuinely loved this movie. It’s funny, it’s sweet, and it’s packed with both animal hijinks and animal feels. An endearing family film that’s honestly one of the best modern DC offerings out there.
For Krypto, life as the Man of Steel’s best friend has been full of love, fun, and chasing bad guys. But as Superman has been getting closer to Lois Lane, Krypto is feeling hurt and left out. When Superman is kidnapped by a new supervillain in town, Krypto needs to put that hurt aside to rescue his owner. To do so, he has to team up with a ragtag group of shelter pets with newly acquired superpowers, care of an orange kryptonite meteor.
We’ll start with the (mild) nitpicks first. Yes, the plot is a little formulaic and the themes are laid on pretty thick—it is a kids’ movie, after all. As soon as Krypto starts waxing poetically in the voiceover about how he and Superman are the only friends either of them needs, it’s blatantly obvious that 1) Krypto’s going to be jealous of Lois, and 2) Krypto will have to go on a journey as he works with and gradually becomes friends with the shelter pets. And while the action overall is a good blend of cool and comical, the tail end of the third act gets a bit muddled.
Other than those quibbles, though, it’s pretty much all stuff to love. Plenty of animal humor—obvious gags, like dogs peeing, but also Animal Farm references, a pig realizing the smell of bacon makes her mouth water (“There’s so much to unpack here,”) and a recurring bit about a guinea pig who wants it made very clear that guinea pigs are nothing like hamsters. And beyond that, there are plenty of other nice comedic beats and sly jokes. I especially like the headline “Wealthy Person Actually Goes to Jail,” and there’s a fun moment where Lois, seeing Superman burst out of his apartment window to do battle with a villain, ruefully says, “Why does this always happen on date night?”
A purely fun animal-superhero romp would make for some light, entertaining laughs, but DC League of Super-Pets also has a huge amount of heart. I will fully admit that I teared up more than once—right from the opening scene, where we see Krypto and baby Kal-El comfort each other as they’re evacuated from Krypton, the film doesn’t pull its emotional punches. Not to mention, the fact that the rest of the super squad is made up of shelter pets inevitably pulls at the heartstrings. Ace the guarded boxer, PB the needy pig, Merton the geriatric turtle, and Chip the anxious squirrel don’t have owners to love them and care about them—they’ve only had each other, and in Krypto’s impatience for them to get their act together as fledgling superheroes, he would do well to remember how fortunate he’s been compared to them. There’s an excellent bit of commentary where the main pets look on as, invariably, visitors to the shelter leave with an adorable, uncomplicated kitten. “Wow, first day!” one of them exclaims on the way to their forever-home. “Being a rescue animal is easy and fun!”
What’s more, I really found myself vibing with the mere concept of superheroes having pets, which is so warm and humanizing. Superman and Krypto’s relationship is adorable, and I love watching the rest of the Justice League react to Superman’s goofy dog-owner voice (side note: the Justice League is used sparingly but well—their intro is a fantastically cool scene.) Superman works hard, so it’s nice to think of him curling up on the couch in the evenings with Krypto, and even the Man of Steel can get trapped in a never-ending game of fetch.
For the main voice cast, we’ve got Dwayne Johnson as Krypto and Kevin Hart as Ace, and while both are more or less doing their usual personas, it works for these characters and creates a nice dynamic between the two dogs. They handle the comedic and heartfelt parts of their relationship well. Kate McKinnon is delightful as Lv1u, a lab guinea pig with a flair for the megalomaniacal—her line readings regularly had me laughing out loud. Vanessa Bayer is sweetly funny as PB, and Natasha Lyonne is a hoot as Merton. John Krasinski is also a really solid Superman: stalwart and heroic, but also kind of a dorky goofball, as he should be. The film features additional vocal performances from Keanu Reeves, Ben Schwartz, Olivia Wilde, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jameela Jamil, Jemaine Clement, Dascha Polanco, Daveed Diggs, Lena Headey, and Keith David. Phew!
Diego Luna plays Chip, a nervous squirrel whose newfound superpowers cause him to wildly shoot bursts of electricity everywhere. Even before he’s almost killed in a fire, gets superpowers, and is recruited to fight a supervillain, his worries frequently get the better of him, and his present circumstances only amplify that.
I appreciate that it’s not that Chip is a coward. Rather, specifically, he’s anxious. He gets paralyzed by indecision, overwhelmed as he considers all the possible bad outcomes of any given situation, and his powers make that even worse. He can’t control them very well, so he’s afraid of accidentally hurting one of his friends with them, or letting them down if he can’t make them work when he needs to. When he gets worked up, he reflexively wraps his tail around himself, and it’s the most adorable coping mechanism around.
Although DC League of Super-Pets is the first animated performance from Luna that I’m reviewing for Y tu Luna también, it’s far from the first I’ve seen—I’ve previously posted about Maya and the Three, and I’m looking forward to giving a more in-depth perspective on Luna’s work in that one, along with his other animated performances I've checked out. So at this point, I can call it: Luna really is a great voice actor. All of his animated characters endear themselves to me, and even though his voice doesn’t sound drastically different from role to role, the characters still feel distinct.
In the case of Chip, Luna continually threads the needle between comical and sympathetic. Chip’s fretful spiraling can shift from ridiculous to sad on a dime, and with Luna’s performance, both make sense. He gives it his all on some truly goofy lines, like, “She just took out the whole Justice League, and they all have opposable thumbs!” and, “But what if the demonic laser gato devours me?” Nice work all around.
Recommend?
In General – Definitely! It’s sweet, it’s funny, it’s cool, and it has pets and pet owners being adorable while also being superheroes. What’s not to like?
Diego Luna – I would. This is a supporting role, but Luna makes the most of every line and plays Chip with a lot of fun and heart.
Warnings
Comic book violence, a little gross-out humor, scary images for kids, mild language, and thematic elements.
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