Universal Pictures
My wife and I got married in the summer of 2016. We spent two weeks in Hawaii for our honeymoon. We loved going to the movies so much together that we saw three movies together in theaters on our honeymoon and one of them was The Secret Life of Pets. I thought that the Illumination Entertainment animated film was average at best, but it always reminds me of my time in Hawaii with my wife. When I saw The Secret Life of Pets 2, not in Hawaii this time, it still reminded me of that trip.
The first Secret Life of Pets movie opened up to a massive $103 million weekend, so naturally a sequel would happen. This film brings back the adorably animated characters from the first film with a few new additions, such as Harrison Ford’s Rooster, a gruff farm dog, and Tiffany Haddish’s friendly Shih Tzu. Another change in the film is the replacement for the voice actor of Max, who was voiced by Louis C.K in the first film and is now voiced by Patton Oswalt.
After walking out of the film, I had the same feelings I did for the first film. The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a beautifully animated film with cute character designs, but ultimately the film feels average and not memorable. There is something about Illumination movies that don’t impress me. They look great, but in terms of the story, characters, and messages in the film, they never take risks. The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a prime example of an Illumination movie that doesn’t take risks. Some elements in the movie, mostly the story, feel rather weak and undeveloped.
There are essentially three different storylines fighting for screen time in the film. The main plot focuses on Max, who is trying to cope with major life changes such as his owner getting married and having a baby. When his family, along with Duke, travel to the countryside for a trip, he meets Rooster who tries to help him deal with his anxiety. While Max and Duke are away, there are other multiple storylines trying to be just as important to the overall story. The problem with introducing so many different storylines into an animated film that has a short runtime is that none of them feel significant. There wasn’t one single storyline that I felt connected to or one that I was interested in watching. The storyline with Max could have been the strong part of the film if the writing for the movie strengthened his moments with his toddler, Liam. The film expected us to understand Max and the moments where he was constantly nervous, but it came off as forced.
The third act does bring all the animals together to help save another animal and that was when I enjoyed watching the film. Everything previously seemed to drag, but the third act was thrilling (for a kids movie) and lighthearted. Up until that point I wasn’t able to enjoy the characters that much since they were fighting for screen time. One character I was interested in seeing was Captain Snowball (Kevin Hart) and how he was adapting to life inside a house. The film never went into details with that, but he was still fun to watch. I found it funny that he actually believed he was a superhero and tried convincing other animals that he was their savior.
In the end, The Secret Life of Pets 2 is just another animated film that I have no interest in watching again. Illumination Entertainment continues their trend of releasing animated films that are filled with potty humor and bright colors to attract a wide audience. Of course, kids will adore the movie for its thrilling third act and all of the adorable animals throughout the film, but for a grown up (who does love animation I must add) did not find much to enjoy about this film.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 has a run time of 1 hour 26 minutes and is rated PG for some action and rude humor.
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