Rent Sgt. Stubby: An Unlikely Hero (2018)

Sgt. Stubby: An Unlikely Hero (aka Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero) review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

How easy a fall it would be for an animated film such as Sgt. Stubby: An Unlikely Hero to trip over its own paws and slam into a pitfall of pointlessness. With how many dog-for-kids movies are present in the current catalog of family entertainment, how easy it would be to reduce this true story to one of cute doggy antics and poop jokes aplenty. And yet this animated film, cheap as it may be, strives to be something a little more. Akin to the likes of Balto, it gives a few more ounces of dignity than one would expect out of animated pictures about true stories with animals involved.

The story takes place during World War 1 where the unfortunate U.S. Army Private Robert Conroy (Logan Lerman) finds himself separated from his unit and stricken with the flu. In pops the stray mutt of Stubby to offer him companionship on his troubling trek across France and Germany. Maybe they can help each other and win the war. Perhaps the bond between man and dog is strong than man and man. Or at least allied and axis forces.

For a doggy staged so cute, I was a wee bit surprised to discover how little the film pulls back from the whole war angle. One might assume such a story couldn’t considering how present it was with Stubby’s life among the soldiers, but one can never be too sure with film so simple that aim to be more saccharine than sincere. Thankfully, the war isn’t downplayed too much and given just enough focus to let us know there was danger during Stubby’s adventures. He didn’t just make friends in the trenches but leapt out of them to help out, either by being there for others or warning the men of incoming attacks. This dog’s tale is given just enough grit to wag more than mere canine cuteness at the screen.

That being said, the animation style is rather uninspired. Even with a low price tag on the animation of about $25 million, there little appeal to the human characters, appearing as some bland cross between an Aardman creation and a low-rent Herge knockoff cartoon. They pale when compared to the likes of Stubby who is given loads of expression and gifted with a design that makes iconic enough in any scene he occupies. I kinda wished the film would just take the Tom & Jerry route of only showing soldier’s from the waist down, hiding their faces. Think how much more money they could’ve saved and made a far better film with a less-is-more approach.

Sgt. Stubby is far from the worst of the cheaper animated pictures considering it has a true story to tell and more often tells it well than through routine theatrics. There’s some heart here and there as well as some genuine character and a tad bit of tenderness for trying to lay into the patriotic angle. It’s a fine enough film for what it is and never really aggravates or astounds. At least the kids will learn a bit of history within this film trying to blend WWI dangers and exciting dog adventures.