'DC League of Super-Pets' is a dog-friendly treat for all the family

Superman / Clark Kent (voice of John Krasinski) and his faithful dog Krypto / Bark Kent (voice of Dwayne Johnson) find themselves in serious danger when a deranged guinea pig (voice of Kate McKinnon), formerly a test subject of Lex Luthor (voice of Marc Maron), manages to obtain shard of orange kryptonite that gives animals superpowers. Together with an unlikely band of misfits (voices of Kevin Hart, Natasha Lyonne, Vanessa Bayer, Diego Luna), Krypto must save the day...

Who among us hasn't woken up in the middle, drenched in a cold sweat and chest heaving, wondering why they haven't made an animated movie of Superman's dog and lined the cast with A-listers? Mercifully, we now live in a world where this is a reality and we can go back to a peaceful slumber knowing we will want for nothing when it comes to movies mined from the depths of comic-book ephemera.

Look, the fact of the matter is 'DC League of Super-Pets' is exactly what you think it is. It's a loud, colourfully animated, slapstick animated comedy where Superman's dog has an alter ego called Bark Kent. In a later scene, grizzled shelter dog Ace - voiced by Kevin Hart - urinates on a statue of Superman in an act of dominance over said dog. Keanu Reeves' growling tones match Batman perfectly, and there's a host of 'SNL' types making up the supporting roles and adding comedic riffs as and when the jokes lull. You've even got Natasha Lyonne in there, playing a short-sighted turtle who frequently finds herself looking around asking where she is.

The action setpieces, such as they are, are silly and full of spectacle, there's plenty of animal-based humour - Kate McKinnon's guinea pig takes regular umbrage with being called a gerbil or a hamster, for example - and parents can amuse themselves across the ninety-odd minute runtime trying to place the voices of the individual characters. 'DC League of Super-Pets' might sound like it's scraping the bottom of the barrel. Fans of comic-book movies where there are endless slow-motion shots of Superman smashing his way through a building to some minor emo hit from the '80s will recoil in horror at this entire concept. For everyone else, it's an enjoyable, funny rip of animated comedy with some familiar voices in some familiar parts.