Hello everybody and here I am with yet another 2019 catch up review! This time I will be looking into Illumination’s latest film which is a sequel to one of their biggest hits, the Secret Life of Pets. Now if you read my Illumination ranking I did a while back (if you haven’t you are more than welcome to check out), you know that I do quite like some of their movies. There may be some that I was very disappointed in (Despicable Me 3 comes to mind) but the ones I did like are quite a bit of fun and they do a good job of making films to appeal to mainstream audiences (a reason why they’ve become so huge in the last decade). And so when it comes to the first Secret Life of Pets, I found it to be a pleasant little romp with some fun characters, nice animation, and often funny comedy. It took a cute, and very appealing premise and managed to turn it into a nice breezy ride of a movie. For that reason when it was announced they were making a sequel I was actually looking forward to it mainly because I felt the idea lended itself to more adventures and the result turned out to be yet another enjoyable ride. So let’s join up with Max, Duke, and the rest of the house pets to see what they’ve gotten themselves into this time!
At the end of the first film Max, and Duke were able to put aside their differences and becomes good friends living together with their owner, Katie. Things begin to change though as Katie meets a guy named Chuck and they end up getting together and eventually marrying each other and having a son whom they name Liam. While the two aren’t too fond of him at first but over the time they start to develop feelings for the kid. Though in the case of Max he starts to become a little too over protective of the boy which leads him to develop an itch meaning he has to have a cone put over his head. Later Duke reveals their all going on a trip to Chuck’s Uncle’s farm outside of the city and when they arrive, Max meets a wise sheepdog named Rooster who serves as some sort of wise mentor to Max teaching him how to let go of his over protective feelings. But that’s not all as before Max left he decided to leave his favorite toy with his friend, Gidget, who has very romantic feelings toward him. Of course soon after Max leaves, Gidget loses the toy to an apartment full of a bunch of cats who aren’t going to give it up. So now she, Chloe, Mel, Buddy, and Sweet Pea must go and retrieve it before Max returns. But wait there’s more! We also have a little adventure involving Snowball who dreams of being a superhero and finally gets his chance when a Shih Tzu named Daisy comes in asking for help in rescuing a white tiger cub named Hu who is in the hands of an abusive circus owner and so they set off to accomplish this. Just by reading the plot summary I just gave you I think you’ll already notice what the biggest problem of the movie is, in that its kind of all over the place.
Like I have said a couple of times before, out of all of the sequels Illumination was in development on, the only one that I thought made the most sense from an artistic standpoint (though not gonna lie, Minions the Rise of Gru actually doesn’t look or sound all that bad after hearing more details) as that is premise that can lend itself to more stories. Yet with this movie it feels like the developers didn’t know what they wanted to do for a follow up and decided to just do whatever. So the result is something that feels less like a movie and more like 3 shorts just mushed together into one so they can make it an hour and a half. This leads the final product to feel very messy in terms of story structure as we jump from one part to another and the plots themselves don’t even come together in a natural way at the end. While I won’t pretend that the story in the first one was masterful, and unique, it was still focused and it felt like the writers had a clear idea of the story they wanted to tell. It reminds me of the recent Addams Family reboot in that sense as that too had many different stories going on and it probably would’ve worked a little better as an anthology in my opinion. However whereas I was very mixed on the proceedings for that one, I actually found quite a bit to enjoy about the stories themselves as in terms of entertainment value this one is about on par with the first in my eyes. It still retains the charm of its predecessor with plenty of fun jokes pertaining to what pets do when we’re not around and how they see the world even if it isn’t as manic or zany as the original (that may be a plus for some though) it still is enjoyable and there are some sweet moments that remind people why they love their pets (with some nice credits at the end that showcase this bond). As for the stories themselves well my personal favorite is Max’s plot as that one actually does contain some nice character development for him, and has a very nice message about learning not to let fear keep taking over your life so you can live it to the fullest. Gidget’s plot is pretty thin but does contain some plenty of humorous moments with Chloe teaching Gidget how to be a cat, and just the insane amount of cats the old lady has made for some fun sequences. Snowball’s mission to save the tiger also had its moments and even managed to throw in an anti animal cruelty message just for good measure. Heck if these were all episodes of a TV series or even just a pilot for one it probably would’ve worked a lot better as that than as a big theatrical release but as it stands it still works well enough for what its trying to be.
Illumination films always have a similar look to them as they have a distinct house-style and unsurprisingly this one is not different. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though as it looks nice visually and while I may not be the biggest fans of their human designs (which have admittedly gotten better) the animators do a really good job when it comes to creating these different animals. Sure they retain that Illumination look but it works really well on animals, and they all look really cute and have an appearance that stands out about them. The movements are also well done as well as they are smooth and know when to be a little energetic when a comedic set piece or action sequence kicks in. Speaking of which there are quite bit of those throughout the picture that are really fun to watch like when Gidget is trying navigate her way through the cat lady’s apartment for some visual inventiveness with the deluge of cats there, when Snowball is running from wolfs in a circus setting which takes advantage of the environment, a neat little between Snowball, and crazy circus monkey, or the climax where Max is involved in a train chase was also well done and admittedly does tie into his character arc. But what I felt really stood out visually were the backgrounds as they were very well realized and had a lot of nice little details here and there. The stand out in this area is New York City as it definitely feels like the city, and is overall a very pretty locale to look at. There’s also a cool little sequence where Snowball is imagining himself as a tough super hero and its animated in a unique way that makes it look a little 2D which is always a nice, and appreciated touch. Also enjoyed the song they played during the credits, “It’s Gonna Be a Lovely Day”, sung by LunchMoney Lewis as its pretty catchy and a nice, and relaxing tune to listen to. Visually, and technically speaking, this may not break any new ground for Illumination but it gets the job done.
Perhaps the biggest reason I welcomed this fellow up’s existence was that probably the biggest highlight of the first one was the crazy cast of characters that were a ton of fun to hang out with. So naturally I was looking forward to seeing what they would get into next and they are still good company though it does feel like the newer additions were given significantly more attention. First there’s Max who like I said does go through some real character growth as he learns to get over his fears, and stop worrying about Liam. I felt he was more likable here than in the first and I thought Patton Oswalt was a very good replacement for Louis C.K. and frankly was a much better fit for the character as well. I was disappointed in the lack of screen-time for Eric Stonestreet’s Duke as I really liked him in one and thought he was the most developed character there. Still though he does have his moments and I like that he does have a friendly relationship with Max instead of hating him again (which can happen in sequels sometimes) though I still would’ve liked to have seen more of it. Their relationship with Liam is pretty cute though and made for some funny gags here and there so at least there’s that. Jenny Slate gives in another infectiously energetic performance as Gidget and she also gets some laughs here and there as well as Lucy Bell bringing her deadpan wit to the role of Chloe once more, and Kevin Heart doing his usual manic schtick as Snowball who’s want to become a super hero made for some amusing moments. Other returning players like the bull dog Mel (Bobby Moynihan), weiner dog, Buddy (Hannibal Buress), and old blood hound, Pops (Dana Carvey) are mostly put to the sidelines but still get some laughs out of their antics (Pops’s puppy school in particular got some good laughs out of me). Then there’s some brand new characters thrown into the mix like Tiffany Haddish (yet another role in an animated sequel that made far less than the last one) as Daisy who is an enjoyable foil to Snowball even if she really isn’t much character wise, and Nick Kroll doing yet another fun, and somewhat, yet still not entirely recognizable vocal performance as Sergei, the abusive circus owner, who is a one note baddie, yet has a weirdly memorable design which is best described as Gru dressed in the garb of a witch. But easily my favorite of the characters here is Rooster who is voiced by none other than Harrison Ford in his very first role in an animated feature. It was just fun seeing him as this gruff, and tough mentor type character and it brings a nice amount of dry wit to the table. Heck I actually wouldn’t mind seeing him in his own little short as that would be very entertaining in and of itself. Still though I wished we could’ve gotten an equal amount of time with both some of the characters from last time and the latest additions as well.
Well this was certainly not the form I was expecting this sequel to take (then again I really didn’t know what it was going to be like at all). The Secret Life of Pets 2 may be very messy with a weird story structure, and unfortunate side lining of characters from last time but it still maintains what worked about the original with its amusing sense of humor, pleasant animation, some fun characters and solid voice work all around. While it probably would’ve worked much better as a TV show (and to be honest I’m shocked Universal hasn’t announced anything like that for Peacock), it still is another nice, breezy ride from the popular animation studio. While I do hope for them to make more original projects in the future if their franchise flicks are at least as enjoyable as this movie, well that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world would it?
Rating: B-
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