The
Secret Life Of Pets
Louie C.K. provides the voice of Max – the luckiest, happiest and
most pampered pooch in New York City. He shares an unbreakable bond
with his owner, Katie (Ellie Kemper), however, all of that is about to
be challenged when she brings home another stray dog, Duke (Eric
Stonestreet).
Duke and Max quickly find themselves trying to establish dominance over
the other through a series of tricks, power plays and more, but they
take it too far, become separated from the other dogs taking their
daily walk, and get captured by Animal Control.
A mad bunny rabbit, Snowball (Kevin Hart), restores their freedom, but
demands they become part of his gang of former pets who are pledged to
get even with the humans who abandoned them.
Will Max and Duke find their way home?
Can Gidget (Jenny Slate) and the rest of Max’s pals save them
from Snowball and his minions?
The Secret Life Of Pets has been sold to
audiences as some sort of goofy comedy about what the pets do when
owners are at work, but it’s actually more of an action film with
plenty of laughs.
While we do get treated to a series of scenes showing us the antics of
pets left home alone, it’s the action, chases and superb voice
acting talent that become the driving forces in the film.
We already know Hart as one of the funniest men on the planet, but he
takes it to another level as the insane bunny rabbit. It’s a
perfect comic set up to make one of the world’s cutest creatures
into a plotter of world domination, and Hart excels in making Snowball
so megalomaniacal with his outbursts, anger and palpable pain. This
might have been the best casting decision of the film.
Then, Slate almost upstages the rest of the cast as tiny little Gidget,
who unleashes a strength she has been hiding beneath her sweet exterior
in order to save Max, who she has been crushing on for so long. Much
like Hart unleashing rage, Slate gives some toughness to a fur ball you
never would expect to have this kind of courage and determination.
The Secret Life Of Pets is a simple, straight
forward movie, but that is part of its charm. Everyone involved on the
creative side never tries to make it more than it is or what they are
capable of giving us.
The
Secret Life Of Pets is rated PG for action
and some rude humor.
90 Minutes
|