'Show Dogs' Are On the Case

A K-9 police dog goes undercover to stop an illegal animal smuggling ring.

Show Dogs is a comedy film that stars Ludacris, an African American actor, voicing Max, a K-9 police dog who is from New York City. Max’s main goal is to save a baby panda from an illegal animal smuggling ring. In order for him to save the baby panda, Max must go undercover as a primped and proper dog in a dog show to avert a disaster from happening. Though he has conflict with his human partner Frank Nicholas, Max must change his behavior in order to save the day.

There are surprisingly many actors of color who play the animals or have supporting roles. Jordin Sparks voices Daisy, an Australian Shepherd who is Max’s love interest. Shaquille O’Neal voices Karma, a shaggy Komondor. Other less prominent POC roles are played by Gabriel Iglesias, Omar Chaparro, and even RuPaul. It is sadly lacking for women, however.

Max, the protagonist of the film, is a surprisingly dynamic character. As a K-9 police dog, Max takes his job very seriously, but his stubborn personality causes trouble to the people around him, including his human partner, Agent Frank Nicholas. In fact, he is too proud and focused on his job as a police dog that he often forgets what is most important in life. His stubbornness and hyperactive behavior lead him to conflict with Frank. Also, Daisy, his love interest, reprimands him for his behavior despite him being a police dog.

In Las Vegas, the main setting of Show Dogs, Max slowly makes friends with the other dogs who teach him a valuable lesson. The lesson is how to have good manners when working with other people. This sparks a change in Max’s behavior and he learns to show compassion.

Show Dogs definitely isn’t the best film that focuses on dogs, as it mostly received negative reviews but it was a decently enjoyable experience.