The Secret Life of Pets Review

So far in 2016 we have had two solid animated movies, Zootopia and Finding Dory. We have also had some not so stellar, but watchable, animated movies, Kung Fu Panda 3 and Angry Birds. As well as one downright boring animated movie, Ratchet & Clank. This week another animated movie gets released, which category will The Secret Life of Pets fall in?

The Secret Life of Pets is about this dog named Max (voiced by Louis C.K.), who lives with his owner, Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper), in an apartment in Manhattan. When Max's owner goes to work, Max and the other pets around the apartment interact. Whether it is hanging out on a walk or sneaking into each others apartments. One day, Max's owner comes home with a giant new dog named Duke (voiced by Eric Stonestreet). Max immediately does not like Duke and demands that Katie get rid of Duke. Katie just hears barking, but Max thinks she can understand him. Duke overhears this and decides he needs to get rid of Max. While at the dog park, Duke tricks Max and drags him off into the city streets. Max and Duke end up getting captured by Animal Control, where they run into a cute little bunny named Snowball (voiced by Kevin Hart) and his crazy cast of misfits. Snowball and his crew do not have the best of intentions when it comes to Max and Duke. Will Duke and Max make it back to Katie or will they be strays for life?

What I enjoyed most about The Secret Life of Pets was the small jokes about the way pets act when their owners are not around. You see Max just sitting by the door, patiently waiting for Katie to come home. You have Chloe (voiced by Lake Bell), a cat that doesn't like her cat food and just wants to eat the food in the fridge. Chloe also has the stereotypical cat attitude of "I don't care about my owner". There are dogs that just bark at squirrels sitting outside their window. There is Sweet Pea, a parakeet, that breaks out of her cage and uses a fan to act like she is a fighter pilot. I also really enjoyed Snowball. He was completely insane and a blast every time he was on screen.

I also enjoyed the adventure that Max and Duke went on to get back to Katie. I was never bored with it. The things they encountered felt original and the characters they ran into brought a fun energy. The laughs seemed to come at a consistent pace. When the action felt like it was about to slow down, it would cut to another cast of characters and pick right back up. The runtime of the movie also helps. Since it is roughly 90 minutes long, there isn't a lot of fluff and goes by really quickly. It never felt long but also didn't feel like it was missing anything.

The one thing that The Secret Life of Pets lacked, that great animated movies have, is that emotional punch. At one point in the movie, it felt like they were going to hit us with a sad, teary-eyed scene, but then nothing happened with it. I never felt that the main characters were in any real sense of danger. There are no scenes in this movie that reach the heights of the first twenty minutes of Up or the beginning of Finding Nemo or the ending of Toy Story 3.

The Secret Life of Pets was a lot of fun. I was laughing throughout the entire movie. I enjoyed watching the relationship with Max and Duke. The supporting cast brought a lot of fun energy to the movie and helped mix things up when needed. If you have kids this movie is a must see. Kids will love the bright colors and laugh at all the crazy characters. Adults currently have pets or grew up with pets will relate to a lot of the characters and their crazy little antics, but will probably disappointed it never reaches the emotional heights of Pixar classics. If you are looking to have a fun time at the movies, go see The Secret Life of Pets, it is an enjoyable little adventure.