WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Bull, an average, all-around good dog, discovers he’s going to be neutered in the morning. He realizes he needs one last adventure with his pack of buddies, as these are the last 24 hours with his balls. What could go wrong?

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

Genndy Tartakovsky, the guy who made amazing shows like Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Laboratory, decided to make something completely different. Fixed is an R-rated cartoon about dogs that acts nothing like the family-friendly stuff he usually creates. This movie feels like someone took a normal animated pet story and threw it into an adult comedy blender. The story follows Bull, a mixed-breed dog voiced by Adam Devine, who discovers his owners plan to neuter him. Bull really loves his testicles and gives them cute nicknames like Napoleon and Old Spice. When he finds out he might lose them, he freaks out and decides to have one crazy final night with his dog friends before the dreaded vet visit. Bull hangs out with a tough boxer named Rocco, played by Idris Elba, plus a nervous beagle called Lucky and a social media-obsessed wiener dog named Fetch. There’s also Honey, voiced by Kathryn Hahn, who’s a fancy show dog that Bull has a major crush on. The movie never shows human faces, treating people like mysterious creatures just outside the frame. What sets this film apart is its aesthetics. Tartakovsky used archaic hand-drawn animation instead of computer graphics, which creates a rough, personal style that exactly conveys the feel of the story. Among so many animated films that look so polished and digital, Fixed feels really fresh. The animation quality stays amazing throughout, with some shots that will make your jaw drop. The problem comes with what the movie actually shows and talks about. Fixed tries really hard to shock people by including tons of bathroom humor, swearing, and sexual situations. The dogs act like horny teenagers who just discovered curse words. There are so many shots of dog butts and private parts that it becomes overwhelming instead of funny. The movie seems more interested in making people uncomfortable than telling actual jokes. Most of the humor feels like it was written by someone who thinks being gross automatically makes something hilarious. The setup for almost every joke involves sex or bodily functions, which gets old really fast. After the first twenty minutes, the shock value completely disappears, and you’re left wondering if there’s anything else to the story. The voice acting saves some scenes from being totally unwatchable. Kathryn Hahn brings real charm to Honey, making her character feel sweet and genuine even when surrounded by all the crude humor. Idris Elba sounds perfect as the tough-guy boxer, and Fred Armisen captures the nerdy personality of Fetch really well. Adam Devine fits Bull’s loud personality, though sometimes he makes the character feel more annoying than lovable. Unfortunately, the supporting characters don’t get much to work with. Even talented actors like Bobby Moynihan and Beck Bennett seem wasted in roles that don’t give them interesting things to do. Their characters exist mainly to react to Bull’s antics rather than having their own stories. The movie tries to have a heart underneath all the crude jokes. Bull’s friendship with his buddies feels genuine, and his relationship with Honey has some sweet moments toward the end. Tartakovsky based the friend group on his own high school buddies, which explains why their conversations feel natural despite all the weirdness happening around them. However, the story structure falls apart trying to juggle too many different plotlines. There’s Bull’s fear of losing his masculinity, his romance with Honey, his relationship with his human family, and various random adventures that don’t connect well. The movie runs only 86 minutes, but feels longer because it can’t decide what it wants to focus on. Things get particularly uncomfortable during the ending, where the resolution involves questionable consent issues that cross the line from edgy into genuinely problematic. What should be the movie’s big finale moment feels more creepy than funny, leaving a bad taste that ruins some of the better parts that came before. Fixed works best when it focuses on the genuine friendship between the dogs and their fears about growing up and changing. These moments show Tartakovsky’s real talent for storytelling and character development. When the movie stops trying so hard to be outrageous and just lets the characters talk to each other, it becomes much more engaging. The biggest tragedy is that this movie almost never got released at all. It bounced between different studios and distributors for years, nearly becoming another casualty of corporate politics. Whether you love or hate Fixed, the fact that it exists at all deserves recognition in an era where completed movies often disappear without ever seeing an audience. Fixed is most definitely not for everyone, which is probably just how Tartakovsky meant it. If you find yourself enjoying films like Sausage Party or Strays, there might be something for you here. Just the animation alone might be worth a look for anyone interested in what hand-drawn cartoons are still capable of. Unfortunately, the relentless focus on shock humor prevents Fixed from becoming the masterpiece it could have been. Tartakovsky clearly has something meaningful to say about friendship, growing up, and accepting change, but he buries those themes under so much crude content that they barely surface. For fans of Tartakovsky’s previous work, Fixed represents an interesting experiment that doesn’t quite succeed. It shows his incredible artistic skills while revealing that sometimes creative freedom needs a few more boundaries to create something truly special.

OUR RATING – A VERY ADULT 5