REVIEW: Show Dogs a low-kilojoule, no-concept comedy snack

IF Sandra Bullock’s lead character in Miss Congeniality was filled by a talking rottweiler, you’d get Show Dogs, but the punchlines have been hounded out of this kids’ comedy.

EVER wondered what Sandra Bullock’s 2000 hit comedy Miss Congeniality might have turned out like if Sandy’s role had been taken instead by a talking rottweiler named Max?

Of course you haven’t.

Nevertheless, the question will be answered by Show Dogs, a low-kilojoule, no-concept comedy snack for little kids who can’t get a ticket to Incredibles 2.

Max (voiced by rapper Ludacris) is a mouthy mutt who makes ends meet as a police pooch in the employ of the NYPD.

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Will Arnett in a scene from Show Dogs. Picture: Supplied

In a bid to crack a case involving the illicit sale of implausibly cute baby pandas, Max goes undercover as an unlikely entrant in a Las Vegas beauty pageant for dogs.

Everything does not go according to plan — but does get very Turner & Hooch — when Max’s appointed handler turns out to be a bumbling wise guy of an FBI agent, Frank (Will Arnett).

Will Arnett in a scene from Show Dogs. Picture: Supplied

Max is very much the brains of this outfit, and talks one hell of a good game even if Frank cannot understand what he is saying. (Talking-dog movie buffs please note: this is one of those productions where the animals communicate among themselves, while oblivious humans go about their business).

While Frank indulges in yet more bumbling after falling under the spell of an attractive dog beautician (Natasha Lyonne), Max zeros in on the bad dudes (most of them dodgy-accented foreign types) in the pay-for-pandas trade.

There are lots of scenes of chatty canines strutting the catwalk and sassing out rival breeds, and for those who might have money on the outcome, Max does not bite Frank on the butt until the 20-minute mark.

SHOW DOGS (PG)

Rating: Two stars (2 out of 5)

Director: Raja Gosnell (Beverly Hills Chihuahua)

Starring: Will Arnett, Natasha Lyonne and the voices of Ludacris, Stanley Tucci.

Paws, pandas and punchlines, all hounded down

Originally published as REVIEW: Show Dogs a low-kilojoule, no-concept comedy snack