THE EXPETS 2

Stanky Dog, Laser-Eye Kitty, and fellow costumed pet superheroes go another round with their stinky archnemesis.

Uh-oh—the fiendishly clever Skunk, who’s still out for revenge following the events of the 2024 series opener, is claiming to have kidnapped Stanky Dog’s human, Lily. On top of that, a giant black kitten has arrived from the moon bearing the Kittykahkah Necklace, a mystically powerful device that must not fall into the wrong paws because it’s capable of controlling the minds of all the world’s pets! It’s high time to call on “America’s favorite four-legged, fur baby, fiend-fighting force,” who have the questionable rallying cry of “EXPETS! EXPLODE TO ACTION!” (As one of them comments, “Seriously, my dudes, we gotta work on our catchphrase.”) Frenetic action is what’s on offer, along with loud colors and over-the-top dialogue that sometimes pops out of the floating cartoon panels. On the way to a warm, fuzzy close, the characters indulge in daffy exploits ranging from a side trip to Maine to steal the planet’s largest catnip toy to an escape from a rubber prison that’s tough enough to resist even the doughty canine’s acrid “super-shtink breath.” One significant human character, General Flagstaff (“commander of all armed forces who protect the Earth”), presents white, and the other two, Lily and Professor Foozypinz (not “Fuzzypants”), are brown-skinned.

A raucously entertaining ruckus with a bit of world-saving thrown in.