PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026) Christian Movie Review · Rated PG · Starring Mckenna Grace, Terry Crews
📖 SUMMARY
A storm knocks the PAW Patrol's ship off course and strands them on an unmapped island where dinosaurs are still walking around. There they meet Rex, a Bernese Mountain pup who gets around in a wheeled harness, has lived on the island for two years, and has made friends with the dinosaurs. Then Mayor Humdinger turns up hunting diamonds, his crew blows a hole in the wrong mountain, and the volcano wakes up. Directed by Cal Brunker, 1 hour 44 minutes, and genuinely one of the sweeter kids' movies we've had this year.
👶 AGE RECOMMENDATIONS
💛 HOW IT MADE ME FEEL
I took my daughter this week and I was fully prepared to sit there for an hour and forty-four minutes and mentally plan dinner. To my surprise, I was actually delighted with this story. It is cute. Really cute. The dinosaurs are friendly enough that nobody in our row got scared of them, the island is beautiful to look at, and the pace never lets your kid start asking how much longer. But the reason I'm writing a long one about a PAW Patrol movie is the message underneath it, which is stronger and more specific than it had any obligation to be. This movie is about failing — about actually blowing it, in front of everybody, and what happens next. Ryder tells the pup who messed up that he doesn't need him to be perfect, he just needs him to give everything he's got and keep going. I'm sure we all wish we had a boss that gracious, someone who would speak life into us like that. And Rex, the pup who's been stranded on this island for two years, is not a sad character the movie fixes. He's the most capable one there. His wheels are just how he moves. He knows the island, he knows the dinosaurs, and everybody needs him. The movie never once stops to explain him or make him inspirational at anybody, and I loved that. Then it turns out the young man voicing him uses a wheelchair in real life, which made me like the whole thing even more.
The Popcorn & Prayers Movie Filter
CONTENT
Nothing at all. It's a movie about talking dogs and dinosaurs, and it stays exactly there.
Cartoon peril, but there's a decent amount of it. The movie opens with a boat on fire and a family trapped inside before the rescue, then a storm that runs a ship aground. Once they're on the island there's a dinosaur stampede, and the back half is dynamite, quakes, and lava. Marshall takes a bad fall and gets knocked out cold, and he stays down for a while. Nobody dies and everybody gets rescued, but the pups get banged up on screen more than in the previous two films.
Essentially nothing. A character gets called Mr. Fluffy Butt, and there's a running gag about shoveling dinosaur droppings as a punishment. That's the ceiling.
The volcano is the part to think about, not the dinosaurs. My seven-year-old came and sat on my lap for that stretch — it was mostly just suspenseful rather than frightening, but it's the one sequence where a younger kid might want you close. The dinosaurs themselves are drawn friendly and she was completely fine with them. Marshall lying unconscious after his fall is the other moment worth knowing about going in.
For a PG kids' movie there is honestly very little to flag, and I want to say that plainly so you're not scanning this section looking for a catch. The only real judgment call is intensity, not content. The volcano sequence is the moment I'd weigh, and I'd weigh it entirely against your specific kid rather than against an age. My seven-year-old came and sat on my lap for it and was fine — it's suspenseful more than scary. Everything else, the potty jokes and the mild insults and the peril, sits comfortably inside what you'd expect from the show. There's nothing in here I'd need to intercept.
CELEBRATION
It wants you to cheer for being okay with making mistakes, and for what you do next — you keep going. That's the whole heart of it. The movie sets up a character who fails badly and publicly, lets him sit in it long enough that it actually stings, and then surrounds him with friends who support him and a leader who tells him he was never being graded on perfect. It also names greed plainly as the thing that wrecks everything, which I appreciated.
CONSCIENCE
Easy yes. I watched this with total peace and my only discernment was about volume and volcanoes, not about what my daughter was absorbing. There's no worldview I had to work around, no line I had to intercept, nothing I had to explain in the car. It's a clean, kind kids' movie, and those are rarer than they should be.
FRUIT
I felt so warm and fuzzy after this movie. And on the way out I asked my seven-year-old what she thought the moral of the story was, and without any prompting she told me it's okay to make mistakes, and don't give up. So the message landed exactly where it was aimed, and it's a great one.
WORLDVIEW
There's no religion in this movie in either direction — nobody prays, nobody sneers, God doesn't come up. What it does have is a moral center that happens to sit unusually close to something true. Most kids' films tell children they're already enough exactly as they are. This one says something better and harder: you will fail, that failure will have real consequences other people have to live with, and you are still wanted here. That's not the gospel, but it's a lot closer to the shape of it than "believe in yourself," and it gives you something real to build on at bedtime.
ECHOES OF THE GOSPEL
I saw the gospel in one of the ideas this film really emphasizes — that you can fail badly and still be wanted. That's one of the biggest themes in all of Scripture. Peter denied Jesus three times, and yet in John 21:15–17 Jesus restored him and told him, "Feed my sheep." He doesn't lecture him and he doesn't put him on probation. He hands him the work back. And the prodigal son wasted everything he'd been given, and in Luke 15:20–24 his father still ran to meet him, embraced him, and welcomed him home. The father was watching the road. I think that's worth remembering, and worth saying out loud in our houses: you are never too broken, too messy, or too imperfect for Jesus. He still wants you, and He still wants a relationship with you. So here's what we can take away from this one. Be careful with how we respond when someone messes up — whether that's ourselves, our kids, or somebody we love. We can offer grace, learn from the mistake, and do better next time. And as for Jesus, He wants a relationship with you no matter how messy your life is. You just have to accept Him.
💬 FAMILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- One of the pups makes a mistake that causes real trouble. Did the team stop wanting him? Is that how you think God is with you?
- Ryder says he doesn't need him to be perfect, just to keep going. Who in your life has said something like that to you, and did you believe them?
- Rex can do things nobody else on that island can, and it has nothing to do with what he can't do. Where might God be doing something like that in you?
- Peter denied Jesus three times and Jesus still gave him the job back. What does that tell you about what God does with our worst moments?
- The prodigal son's father ran to meet him before he'd even finished apologizing. What does that say about how God feels when we come back?
✨ POSITIVITY
- Ryder tells the pup who failed that he doesn't need him to be perfect, only to give everything he's got and keep going
- The movie lets him sit with the mistake for a bit instead of waving it off, and names the feeling we all get when we've messed up
- Rex's wheels are never the problem the movie is trying to solve; he's the most competent character on the island
- Hayden Chemberlen, who voices Rex, uses a wheelchair himself, and it's his first acting role
- The pups keep going back for each other, including for the one who caused the mess
- Greed is named plainly as the thing that wrecks everything, and it's the villain's whole engine
⚠️ THINGS TO NOTE
- The volcano sequence is the most suspenseful stretch and may be a lap-sitter for younger kids
- Marshall is knocked unconscious after a bad fall and stays down for a stretch
- A dinosaur stampede, plus dynamite and lava in the back half
- The film opens on a burning boat with a family trapped inside
- Recurring dinosaur-droppings humor, including a shoveling punishment
- Mayor Humdinger comes out of prison claiming he's changed and drops it almost immediately
One more thing…
Practical notes. It's a hundred and four minutes, which is longer than the last two, and you'll feel it in the third act if you've got a squirmer — plan the bathroom trip before the volcano, not during. Who is this movie for? Honestly, everybody. If your kids watch the show, they'll be fine; this is the same tone with a bigger budget. If you have a child who uses a wheelchair or a walker, or a kid who has ever felt like the one being helped instead of the one helping, I'd go out of my way to take them to this one, because Rex is written as the coolest character in the movie and that's not something they get handed very often. And the rewatch test: yes, this is going to live on our TV, and I'm not even mad about it. Third PAW Patrol movie and it's the best one.
💬 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie OK for kids?+
It's rated PG and we think it's best for 4+. On our 1–5 Pop Score, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie earns a 4/5. It tells little kids that messing up doesn't disqualify you — and that somebody who loves you still wants you back.
What age is PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie appropriate for?+
Here's our age-by-age take for PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie — 0-9: Great; 10-13: Great; 14+: Maybe. Overall we'd say it's best for 4+.
What should parents know about PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie?+
Content notes for PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie — Romance — none: Nothing at all. It's a movie about talking dogs and dinosaurs, and it stays exactly there.. Violence — moderate: Cartoon peril, but there's a decent amount of it. The movie opens with a boat on fire and a family trapped inside before the rescue, then a storm that runs a ship aground. Once they're on the island there's a dinosaur stampede, and the back half is dynamite, quakes, and lava. Marshall takes a bad fall and gets knocked out cold, and he stays down for a while. Nobody dies and everybody gets rescued, but the pups get banged up on screen more than in the previous two films.. Language — mild: Essentially nothing. A character gets called Mr. Fluffy Butt, and there's a running gag about shoveling dinosaur droppings as a punishment. That's the ceiling.. Scary/intense — moderate: The volcano is the part to think about, not the dinosaurs. My seven-year-old came and sat on my lap for that stretch — it was mostly just suspenseful rather than frightening, but it's the one sequence where a younger kid might want you close. The dinosaurs themselves are drawn friendly and she was completely fine with them. Marshall lying unconscious after his fall is the other moment worth knowing about going in..
Is PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie worth watching?+
Hailey gives PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie a 4 out of 5 on the Popcorn & Prayers Pop Score. A genuinely sweet dinosaur-island adventure with a stronger message than it needed — that failing doesn't disqualify you. It's Peter on the beach and the prodigal son's father on the road, told with puppies. Clean, kind, and the volcano is the only thing to weigh.
How does PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie portray faith and Christianity?+
There's no religion in this movie in either direction — nobody prays, nobody sneers, God doesn't come up. What it does have is a moral center that happens to sit unusually close to something true. Most kids' films tell children they're already enough exactly as they are. This one says something better and harder: you will fail, that failure will have real consequences other people have to live with, and you are still wanted here. That's not the gospel, but it's a lot closer to the shape of it than "believe in yourself," and it gives you something real to build on at bedtime.
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