Follow six dogs and their human partners as they brave earthquakes and avalanches, protect endangered species and help people with special needs.
A big thanks to Paw Justice for providing me with a double pass to the premiere of this documentary. I'll start with a little promo. Superpower Dogs is one of eleven documentaries that you can see on the largest screen in the country at Auckland's Queen Street Event Cinemas IMAX theatre (eight of the documentaries are available in 3D too). This is all part of the IMAX Doco Film Festival, which runs for a week from August 29 (that's today!) until September 4th. Tickets start from $13 for adults and $10 for children and you can find/book sessions here.
But let's get back to the feature. Superhero Dogs is a short 47-minute long documentary narrated by our very own superhero, Chris Evans (a.k.a. Captain America). It's a match made in heaven when you watch a piece that follows five types of rescue dogs, and hear Evans waxing lyrical about the love and dedication that these hardworking dogs bring to their occupation.
The primary story is that of Halo, a dog that we get to watch grow up from the runt of a litter of 10 pups, as she works towards getting certified as an urban search and rescue dog. We follow her from her energetic puppy stage, through various steps of training, until her final assessment. The story is split up into sections with other established rescue dogs getting their time in the spotlight. We meet Henry, the alpine rescue dog that loves to run alongside skis and on his partners back (when not rescuing people trapped in avalanches, of course). Then there is Reef the Newfoundland, whose webbed toes and double fur make him the perfect water rescue dog. Bloodhounds, Tipper and Tony, go on the offensive spending days at a time tracking down poachers from as little as a bootprint, while Ricochet helps those suffering from PTSD and special needs (and can catch a gnarly wave too).
From a visual perspective, the documentary is quite inconsistent. Aspect ratios, scale, and resolution vary widely from scene to scene, which can take a while to get used to (especially when you consider certain scenes are taking full advantage of the 27.3m wide and 19.92m high screen with incredibly high-quality resolution. Scenes can be absolutely stunning, but it makes it all the more obvious which scenes are lower quality.
That is of little significance though, because the feature is clearly aimed at the younger audience. The 47-minute runtime is incredibly short (but great for those youthful, short attention spans), and the content doesn't really go too deep into anything. It gives fun little facts that keep your interest, like how dogs keep their core dry in the water, how much weight they can tow, or how rescue dogs are trained for emergency scenarios but the film doesn't have the scope nor time to go any further than that.
None of it really means anything though. The only important aspect is how you feel when you watch it, and honestly, I had to fight quite hard to stop myself from tearing up throughout the entire film. I don't know whether it hit me more because I used to have a dog, but watching these animals displaying unconditional love and limitless commitment to their work, was simply an absolute pleasure. We've all seen puppy dog eyes, and it's impossible to not get overwhelmed by their cuteness, but imagine if they were over 15 metres tall, with some incredibly dramatic orchestral music. It really gets the emotions flowing.
Superhero Dogs is a very easy watch. I could have watched two hours of this without an issue. It had me hooked from the opening scene, and kept me engaged throughout. It didn't need to be deep; all it needed were it's six lovable main characters. Do we deserve dogs? I couldn't tell you, but they deserve their time on the big screen, and I highly implore you to check it out while you have the chance.