When Superman and the entire Justice League are kidnapped by Lex Luthor, his pet dog Krypto bestows super powers upon a team of shelter pets and comes to the rescue.

It’s a given that kids will love the cute animals, the colors and the constant motion. And the parents they drag to the theater will be amused by the thread of snarky observations about superhero movies. For my money, this beaten-to-death but highly profitable (and thus likely to be with us forever) genre deserves any and all criticism. 

But a little self-awareness (not to mention an all-star voice cast headed up by Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart) is not enough to overcome the lazy, formulaic story (right down to a climax involving a diminutive villain magically growing into a threatening giant) and the tired good-vs.-evil tropes. Likeable, yes; memorable, no. (105 min)