The Secret Life Of Pets – Review
There are very few films that you see at the cinemas these days without knowing anything about the plot. But that is exactly what happened when I went along to the cinema this past weekend to see the new Dreamworks Animation movie ‘The Secret Life Of Pets’. Everyone and their hamster has now seen the iconic trailer where the pets misbehave while their owners are out but does the movie live up to the hype. Well, yes and no.
The marketing around The Secret Life of Pets is it’s biggest asset and also it’s biggest weakness. It has done an incredible job of promoting the movie across the world and really getting the movie noticed. There’s not a person out there who doesn’t know about this movie. The issue they now have is ensuring the movie is just as funny and engaging as the trailer and that’s where Dreamworks stumble.
Before we get down to the nitty and gritty, a quick summary. ‘The Secret Life Of Pets’ follows the story of Max (voiced by Louis C.K.), a rather spoiled dog who leads a happy life with his owner and friends Chloe (Lake Bell), Gidget (Jenny Slate), Mel (Bobby Moynihan) and Buddy (Hannibal Buress). But one day, his owner adopts another dog named Duke (voiced by Eric Stonestreet) and they don’t get along. In an attempt to get rid of Duke, both Max and Duke end up lost in the city and enlisted in the ‘The Flushed Pets’, a group of animals who hate humans. Realising that Max is missing, his friends are led by Gidget in a mission to find Max and bring him home.
Sound familiar? That’s because it kind of is. It’s clear that the original Toy Story and to an extent Toy Story 2, have had an influence on the story here. The jealously Max has towards Duke taking over his life is similar to the Woody/Buzz dynamic with the rescue mission from Gidget and gang similar to the rescue mission lead by Buzz in Toy Story 2. For this reason, The Secret Life Of Pets is a little unoriginal. It’s an entertaining film to watch and the connections to the characters are well built but there is an air of ‘been there, done that’ that flows throughout the film and dilutes your enjoyment of it somewhat.
In terms of characters, I enjoyed following the character arcs of Max, Duke, Gidget and Tiberius (Albert Hook) the most. Gidget brought the most humour to the movie, a fluffy Pomeranian with a sweet voice who also happens to possess ninja fighting skills and a killer bitch slap. Tiberius was interesting visually as the only hawk in the movie and the only character that would eat the other characters. I’m glad that the producers didn’t shy away from this and actually built it into the story. The villain, White Rabbit (voiced by Kevin Hart) was actually kind of annoying. Not so much the character but the voice actor himself. His voice was incredibly grating when the character had long spurts of dialogue. I’m hoping they won’t be back for the sequel.
Rating:
This is all sound a bit negative but the truth is that despite it’s unoriginality, The Secret Life Of Pets is a good movie. It has all the right ingredients for a successful franchise – funny, relatable characters, brilliant visuals and a wealth of stories to be told. This is the sort of movie that you’re more likely to enjoy on a second viewing as you know what to expect. Again, it all comes back to the movie promotion which has been somewhat misleading. I am certainly looking forward to more adventures from Max, Gidget and Duke, I just hope it’s more in line with my expectations the second time around.
The Secret Life Of Pets is showing in cinemas across the UK and Ireland now. It will open in the United States on July 8th.
This review was originally posted on Liam’s Life.
I also have an unhealthy obsession with US TV shows such as Buffy, How To Get Away With Murder and RuPaul's Drag Race.
