The last day before his life changes forever Bull must go on an almighty quest to use his unmentionables at least once before they are taken away forever.
Fixed may look like a family friendly cartoon, full of beautifully animated dogs in a style many millennials will instantly recognise. Make no mistake, once that cute opening is out of the way, Fixed quickly spirals into an 80-minute cluster of crude debauchery, juvenile dialogue, the odd laugh and a poor, poor Nanna.
Bull, perfectly voiced by Adam DeVine, is living the life every dog dreams of, his family loves him, he lives next door to the beautiful show dog Honey (Kathryn Hahn), who he has been crushing on his whole life, and every day he gets to go to the dog park to meet with his friends and gossip about everything happening in their world. Bull’s friends are an interesting bunch, Rocco (Idris Elba) a very proper boxer is nursing some mummy issues under his tough exterior. Fetch (Fred Armisen) a yuppie Dachshund who is a bit of a social media star and the ever-nervous Jack Russell Lucky (Bobby Moynihan).
Unbeknownst to him, Bulls perfect life is about to come crashing down as his family has had enough of his extracurricular activities around the house and have decided it is time to get him neutered. Scared out of his mind Bull escapes from the yard and runs away from home before meeting up with his posse and heading across town on an adults only adventure.
Animation royalty Genndy Tartakovsky creator of classics like Dexters Laboratory, Clone Wars and director of the first 3 Hotel Transylvania movies brings his instantly recognisable animation style to Fixed. Animation is simple 2D with the usual character flair for each of the beautifully drawn canine stars. Their slightly over exaggerated style never distracts you from their breeds, even highlighting mannerisms from their vocal counterparts and keeps you focused on what the main characters are doing. While simple, Fixed is beautifully animated even though I have now seen more butt holes than I ever thought I would in an animated feature.
Unfortunately, this simplicity is also one of Fixed biggest downfalls. Tartakovsky is known for his use of visual elements that add depth and character to a scene, it is where his biggest strengths lay, and it is where he gets his most laughs when paired with a sharply written story. Fixed misses out on both those elements. Jokes are few and far between with the team seemingly more interested in gross out shock giggles instead of quality comedic elements. There are some funny moments, even the occasional pun that got a chuckle and head shake out of me but Fixed fell well short of expectations. Especially when you go in hoping for an adult comedy that just so happens to bring back visual nostalgia from early Cartoon Network.
Fixed isn’t going to be for everybody, it may in fact be for very few. There is small remanence of a meaningful story hidden away that is never really given its time. Even as Bull makes what some would call the ultimate sacrifice the cringy dialogue couldn’t help itself. Teenage boys will get a kick out of the sheer absurdity of it, and if you want a quick turn your brain off and giggle this might be right for you, have a beverage or two with you though…
Fixed is out now on Netflix in Australia.
