I Spent My Weekend Watching the Puppy Power Rangers

Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie finds your kids' favorite crew on a tropical island. The film tracks the crime-fighting canines doing what they do best: saving the day—but with a Jurassic twist.

Led by Ryder, the team meets a new pup named Rex who leads them on an off-the-map adventure to rescue dinos and protect the jungle. Though most of the story centers around Marshall, a dime-sized Dalmatian with firefighting skills the state of California could sure use.

Children witness Marshall struggle with some very real, age-appropriate challenges, like being clumsy—I lost count of the times he totaled his firetruck. But his internal struggle lays the groundwork for the pup to put out the "fire of his life" when Mayor Humdinger and his sidekicks set off a Volcano that threatens to burn the entire island.

Marshall's story is one of self-doubt, but also endurance once he accepts that his real gift is grit. Measured in the miles he covers trying to rescue a baby dino and the hits he takes protecting his pack from a fiery lake of lava. It gave Backdraft, on the bridge, with a much more snuggly William Baldwin.

I still have questions about the Paw Patrol universe, like how Humdinger managed to get community service after triggering an environmental disaster. I, a black woman, would be serving life for less. I've also wondered about Ryder's parents and who's footing the bill for these pups and all their tricked-out tech.

But the movie is adventure-packed, boasts a Backstreet Boys theme song, and made me—the most cynical of parents—root for a fire-fighting, four-legged action hero.