From the people who brought us Despicable Me and The Lorax comes the family friendly animated comedy The Secret Life of Pets. A children’s film that focuses on what our pets do after we leave for the day.
Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures team up with directors Chris Renaud (producer of Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2) and Yarrow Cheney, along with comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Heart to make what Rottentomatoes calls, “fast-paced, funny, undemanding family-friendly diversion.”
Audiences were so impressed by it that it’s currently become the highest grossing original animated film not produced by Disney or Pixar.
The Secret Life of Pets story revolves around a terrier, Max, voiced by Louis C.K., who is enjoying living in New York City with his owner, Katie. Everything appears to change for the worst when Katie adopts a large, rough canine named Duke, voiced by Eric Stonestreet of Modern Family.
“This movie was enjoyable and not just a typical child eye-catching movie that would make parents fall asleep ten minutes in.”
Max and Duke butt heads over having to share Katie’s love, which leads to chaos during their walk with the dog walker. Max is taken away from the dog park by Duke, where they wander the New York streets and run into a gang of sketchy street cats.
The cats strip Max and Duke of their collars, making them strays and resulting in a number of problems for the two, one being that they’re picked up by the dog catchers and put in the truck headed for the pound.
Max and Duke become lucky puppies for a rebellious fluffy white bunny named Snowball, voiced by Kevin Hart, and his gang of “Freed Pets.”
However, with being released, Max and Duke make a vow to join Snowball’s vicious gang of rejected pets in the sewers, where the group plans to get their revenge on the humans that have done them wrong.
While Max and Duke try to survive by fitting in and secretly attempt to escape the gang, a cute little pomeranian dog that has a secret crush on Max named Gidget, voiced by Jenny Slate, becomes worried about the disappearance of Max and brings together a group of his friends to help search for him, including a fat cat, an unhinged hawk, and an elderly basset hound.
The movie alternates between Gidget and Max’s perspectives, which expands the storyline and makes it more appealing. There are a number of memorable characters both sides encounter along the way, brimming with unique designs and charming personalities. It does contain some interesting “behind the scenes” looks of the pets’ actions that take a page out of Toy Story and Wreck it Ralph in terms of world building.
This movie was enjoyable and not just a typical child eye-catching movie that would make parents fall asleep ten minutes in. It brings together not only the typical cat and dog dynamic that children love, but also gets creative with the use of other pets, such as Hart’s rebellious Snowball, a guinea pig that gets constantly lost trying to find his home, the godfather of snakes, and more.
It successfully brings the audience into the day and life of our beloved pets we come home to, even with some dramatic reveals that give the movie a slight hint of Disney darkness.
I personally found this movie hilarious and sweet. It has moments where it pulls at your heart strings and teaches the importance of friendship and devotion.
We have all wondered what our pets do or think about when we are gone for the day and this movie brings a clever and amusing twist to answer that. The Secret Life of Pets is an adventurous, sweet, and relaxing tale that is a nice movie to watch for either family movie night or a sweet pick me up.