Comme des bêtes

Not a great film, but a very enjoyable one.

Starting with 'The Secret Life of Pets', while much of the story is charming, beautifully paced without feeling rushed and entertaining, it does run out of steam in the final third where it does drag a bit and feels overstretched.

While the lead characters are likable and interesting, there are too many characters, which are not as fleshed out and some of them not in the film enough to make impact, and the film feels over-populated as a result.

And while a vast majority of the film is incredibly entertaining, not all the jokes work in the final third, being not as well-timed and being a bit too obvious and childish.

However, 'The Secret Life of Pets' is beautifully and vibrantly animated, love the rich colours, meticulously rich backgrounds and the well-modelled character designs. The music score is whimsical and lively.

'The Secret Life of Pets' is also very wittily and often hilariously scripted, some of the best lines coming from Snowball, and there are some neat references to 'Grease', 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Some Like it Hot.' As said, much of the story is charming with enough of the entertainment factor.

Lastly the voice acting is pretty terrific, Kevin Hart, Albert Brooks and Steve Coogan coming off best.

Overall, there is much to enjoy in 'The Secret Life of Pets', though it is more a good film than a great one. 7/10 Bethany Cox

When you see as many movies as I do (and you start writing reviews in your head while you're watching them), certain movies, parts of movies, plot points or characters remind you of other movies. In my reviews, I often note those parallels, using them to comment on the movie I'm reviewing. Sometimes I note similarities between movies to say that the more recent film is unoriginal. Other times, it's just to help explain what the new movie is like. The animated adventure comedy "The Secret Life of Pets" (PG, 1:30) reminds me very much of two other animated features… but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: Someone's possessions (as he or she views them) actually have secret lives of their own which are only really apparent when the owner is not around. These anthropomorphic possessions relate to each other and form friendships. When a newer version of the original is brought into the group, jealousy emerges and the original tries to get rid of the interloper. This struggle results in both of the rivals being thrust out of the comforts of home into the little-understood big, bad world, a situation which requires their compadres to venture out of their own comfort zones to mount a rescue.

That set-up fits Illumination Entertainment's 2016 "The Secret Life of Pets" as well as it does the 1995 Pixar/Disney classic film "Toy Story". (Think, "Pet Story", or "The Secret Life of Toys".) But considering that the 2016 film is about animals rather than toys, maybe the better comparison is to another 2016 animated feature (also from Disney) by the name of "Zootopia". In both of those 2016 films, a couple of anthropomorphic animals (among many others living in a big city) form a partnership which develops into a mutually beneficial friendship. I guess it's not unfair to think of "The Secret Life of Pets" as a mash-up of "Toy Story" and "Zootopia". Nevertheless, this one charts its own unique course and is as entertaining as those other two… or the "Despicable Me" films, also from Illumination Entertainment.

Now that you know what "The Secret Life of Pets" is LIKE, here's what it's ABOUT: The movie focuses on a small brown and white terrier named Max (voiced by Louis C.K.) and his relationship with the other pets in his apartment building. Max lives in a small Manhattan apartment with his owner, a young woman named Katie (Ellie Kemper). When Katie goes to work each day, Max sits at the door wondering where she has gone and waiting for her to come back and play with him. Meanwhile, the pets in the building across the alley and above and below his apartment (and one guniea pig lost in the air ducts) are more active in their daily lives (and more mobile) than is readily apparent. (Thus, the title of the film.) Some of the neighborhood pets include an overweight white cat named Chloe (Lake Bell), a bulldog named Mel (Bobby Moynihan), a dachshund named Buddy (Hannibal Buress), a canary named Sweet Pea (Tara Strong), and Gidget (Jenny Slate), a white Pomeranian who has a secret crush on Max.

Except for missing Katie during the day, all is well in Max's little world… until one not-so-fine day when Katie brings home another dog she rescued from a shelter. Duke (Eric Stonestreet) is a large, shaggy, dark brown dog who has no problem throwing his weight around to get the best place to sleep, or as much food as he wants, or… anything else. Max starts scheming about how to get rid of Duke, but one such attempt while they're in the park with Katie's dog walker back-fires and sets both Max and Duke off on a wild and dangerous journey around the city. When Gidget realizes that Max has disappeared, she enlists their mutual pet friends, plus a caged hawk named Tiberius (Albert Brooks), and a few other neighborhood pets (including the Dana Carvey voiced "Pops"), to help her find Max. Meanwhile, Max and Duke have to try escaping from animal control workers, a disfigured alley cat named Ozone (Steve Coogan) and a small, but crazed and bitter bunny named Snowball (Kevin Hart), who was discarded by the magician he worked for and now leads a sewer-dwelling group of radicals called The Flushed Pets, who are bent on wiping out all the humans – and who decide that Max and Duke are also their enemies.

"The Secret Life of Pets" is every bit as entertaining as you'd hope, based on its theatrical trailers, or its movie posters, or just its title. Co-writers Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio and Brian Lynch exploit many of the well-known quirks of different kinds of pets, but give each character in the film its own personality. Then, once the script clearly establishes who each of these characters are, it gives them plenty to do, but without making the story unnecessarily complicated. Co-directors Chris Renaud (who also voices the aforementioned lost guinea pig) and Yarrow Cheney bring this promising concept and excellent script to realization by keeping the plot moving and not overdoing any of the film's big ideas or overplaying any of the gags. Finally, with the film's impressive voice cast and the filmmakers' "Despicable" history, the performances and the visuals are excellent across the board. On the critical side, I found a subplot involving Duke's backstory and a "Grease"-inspired sausage-fueled dream sequence to be odd and unnecessary diversions, and I would've liked to see just a little more originality and inspiration sprinkled throughout the movie. However, there's no denying that "The Secret Life of Pets" is very well-done good, clean fun for the whole family. "A-"

... it's not a classic. Has a nice family feel to it and kids will like it, but unlike some recent animations doesn't have much for adults. The gangsta rabbit is quite funny, and I wish that Claudia the fat cat had more lines as there was scope to develop that character a bit more. The plot is pretty thin but there again you don't really expect a lot more from this type of film. I quite liked it but was also a little disappointed - it was so hyped and unfortunately didn't really live up to it. I could watch Happy Feet and Shrek all day but I wouldn't want to sit through this again. But all in all it is what it is. It's aimed at children and they will enjoy it - my grandchildren aged 7 and 10 certainly did.

I start this review by first acknowledging there's nothing wrong with this film from a family-oriented entertainment point of view. It's colorful, it's fun at times, provides a positive message about acceptance and provides a clever enough high concept to keep the kids on their keesters for 80 minutes. As a rudimentary children's film, you certainly can do worse.

The problem with The Secret Lives of Pets stems from its complete inability to marry story, character and concept into a discernible package. As it stands, the film is rushed, bulky and is chalked full of nonsensical choices that cripples any verdant ideas that could have been. It's a first draft; not a final product.

The story begins with a happy Jack Russell Terrier named Max (C.K.) who lives with his owner Katie (Kemper) in a surprisingly roomy Manhattan apartment. Things change drastically and suddenly with the arrival of Duke (Stonestreet) a large, shaggy Newfoundland whose introduced as a "new brother" to Max's chagrin. They, of course don't get along and after a series of confrontations find themselves lost. The first to notice they're missing is a lovestruck Pomeranian named Gidget (Slate) who recruits the rest of Max's friends among others to recover them from the vast streets of New York City.

The rest of Max's friends are barely worth mentioning as they're mostly utilized to push the buttons and pull the levers on some uninspired comedic set-pieces. They're not really useful to the plot, nor do they succeed in being the Toy Story (1995)-inspired resilient and diverse gaggle the movie hopes they are. Part of the reason for this is none of the side characters actually solve any problems. They jet here, they jet there but when faced with any obstacles they just seem to rush it. Gone is the creativity of having Mr. Potato Head fashion a new body out of a tortilla; now we have elderly Basset Hound, Pops (Carvey) hobbling through construction sites with stalwart confidence.

Frankly focusing on the story's tagged-on villains might have paid more dividends. The broad machinations of Snowball (Hart), a bunny with delusions of grandeur are easily the best part of the film, even if they remain painfully underdeveloped. Additionally his "Flushed Pets" group could have complicated Duke's allegiance to his new owner or more easily pegged Max as a fully socialized pet and therefore in need of re-education. Snowball was the best chance the movie had in getting audiences to truly know the characters we're supposed to be rooting for but instead they blew it on prolonged chase sequences and a sausage factory bit that goes absolutely nowhere.

And that gets me to the biggest problem I have with this film; the creators' approach to the high concept itself. The film tries to have its cake and eat it to, portraying characters with innately human characteristics but still clinging to the charming pet-like idiosyncrasies we know and love about our furry friends. For example, Gidget recruits the help of Tiberius (Brooks) a hawk who at first tries to eat her. She barely escapes his talons only to trust him once more because that's just what a peppy little dog would do. Max's friends Mel (Moynihan) and Buddy (Buress) don't even notice Max is gone because, being dogs, they're distracted by butterflies and squirrels. They're certainly not a rag-tag group of lovable rogues, they're a confederacy of dunces, successful only because of the ever changing allegiances of the main antagonist. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention Snowball at one point joins forces with Max to save Duke in a climactic sequence so blithely unnatural it renders the friends search and rescue completely moot.

This film is a rushed, characterless, flavorless kids film that just barely stretches its plot over the skeleton of its story structure. As I said before, if all you're looking for is a bland and forgettable family film, you could do worse. Yet provided it's appealing concept, you'd really think the animation studio that made Despicable Me (2010) could do better.

Let's face it, we as pet owners have always wondered what our furry friends are up to when we're not home. It's an idea that has been played around with for years, from Tom and Jerry to Phineas and Ferb. As ideas go, it isn't original, but the possibilities it can bring are endless. When Illumination Entertainment, the French animation studio behind monster hits such as Despicable Me and Minions (the first non-Disney animated film to earn a billion worldwide) launched a teaser trailer documenting the mischief pets get up to, curiosities were peaked. The world cried in unison; what does this animation studio think pets do? We already have pets as spies, pets being obsessive compulsive mouse hunters, and pets finding their way home. There is still so much one can do with this age old trope, if one is clever enough. What we got, is a beautifully animated flick with plenty of humour and good spirits that packs too much into its run time that has good intentions, despite borrowing heavily from a certain 1990s film.

The film opens with our protagonist, Max (Louis C.K.), a Jack Russell Terrier living in New York City with his owner, Katie. Max, like any terrier, is full of beans and love for his master; Illumination got the happy go lucky attitude of the Jack Russell down perfectly. They also got the territorial side, for when Katie brings home a Newfoundland mix named Duke (Eric Stonestreet), Max is less than impressed. Not wanting his perfect life torn upside down by the hairy interloper, Max tries his darndest to get rid of him, leading, of course, to the pair getting whisked away by the pound when Duke tries to dispose of Max. Naturally, the pooches must cope with each other and find their way home, but not without obstacles; underneath the belly of NYC is an underground secret society of abandoned and unwanted animals, led by the not so cuddly rabbit, Snowball (Kevin Hart). Due to accidentally offing a valuable member of the society, Snowball and his henchmen swear vengeance on our furry duo. While all this madness is afoot, a Pomeranian named Gidget, who has a major crush on Max, enlists the help of all their animal neighbours to save him.

The main issue of the film, and it's a biggie, is that it's Toy Story with pets. There's no sugar coating it. The main species has a social circle that their owners aren't aware of. The main character loves his owner so much, and is insanely jealous when they bring home someone new. When one is trying to get rid of the other, they end up far away from home, and have to find their way back. They even have elements of Toy Story 2 and 3; friends coming together to find the main character, and a seemingly cute antagonist causing chaos. The only real original element is that the animals have their own language; they don't harbour the ability to speak to humans. Despite this, the film isn't a dud. By now, you've already heard from many sources about the parallels with Toy Story, and, if you're open minded, can enjoy the film for what it is; a slapstick comedy with talking animals. It doesn't remove the issue, but it allows one to see the effort the creators put in to the rest of the film.

The animation is fantastic; the textures and anatomy of the animals, while stylised, is still very true to what it represents. The look and feel of New York is large in scale and immensely colourful. The characters look like they have weight to them, that despite their cartoony appearance, they could be real animals. The characters are likable and cute, with the actors making them sound like they are animals; in better terms, you believe they are animals, not animals being voiced by humans. I don't know how they managed that, but they did.

What little character development is present it given to Max and Duke, with the latter having a genuinely heartbreaking moment which is sadly glanced over, and thrown aside. There is so much life and likability here. The only issue with character, is that there's too many to remember, and not enough time to get to know them. It's a good thing when you want to see more of the characters, but it also gives glaring warning signs: an inevitable sequel. Or perhaps, that may be a good thing. For this film, despite its flaws, seems like it could be the precursor to a creative franchise. There is so much that can be done with these characters, and with this world, that a sequel would be welcomed. The only issue is, would it be milked to the death like the poor Minions?

The jokes are mostly funny, with some misses; there is a jab at YouTube cat videos that will forever be relevant, and the metal loving poodle is amazing. The little quirks that the animators and actors gave the animals are fantastic, such as the dogs having short attention spans, and the cat sitting in too small containers. There's a lot for pet owners to relate to, especially in the ending.

It may be a mixed bag, but it's a good, likable one. The Secret Life of Pets had potential to be amazing, and still has potential to become a creative, lasting franchise. This beautiful film is plenty of bark, with little bite. If you leave without a smile on your face, then you were clearly neutered.

Rating: B2