X
- 2016
- PG
- 1 h 27 m
- 2016
- PG
- 1 h 27 m
Summary Taking place in a Manhattan apartment building, Max's life as a favorite pet is turned upside down, when his owner brings home a sloppy mongrel named Duke. They have to put their quarrels behind, when they find out that an adorable white bunny named Snowball is building an army of abandoned pets determined to take revenge on all happy-ow...
Directed By: Chris Renaud
Written By: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, Brian Lynch
- 2016
- PG
- 1 h 27 m
- 2016
- PG
- 1 h 27 m
The Secret Life of Pets
61
6.2
Where to Watch
Summary Taking place in a Manhattan apartment building, Max's life as a favorite pet is turned upside down, when his owner brings home a sloppy mongrel named Duke. They have to put their quarrels behind, when they find out that an adorable white bunny named Snowball is building an army of abandoned pets determined to take revenge on all happy-ow...
Directed By: Chris Renaud
Written By: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, Brian Lynch
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 39 Critic Reviews
61
59% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
38% Mixed
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 39 Critic Reviews
61
59% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
38% Mixed
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
The Secret Life of Pets is funnier than Zootopia and fresher than Finding Dory. Bonus points for a genuinely touching finale that had me crying behind my 3-D glasses.
An animated fluffball that does everything to drive you crazy and ends up by being totally irresistible.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 404 User Ratings
6.2
49% Positive
196 Ratings
196 Ratings
39% Mixed
157 Ratings
157 Ratings
13% Negative
51 Ratings
51 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 404 User Ratings
6.2
49% Positive
196 Ratings
196 Ratings
39% Mixed
157 Ratings
157 Ratings
13% Negative
51 Ratings
51 Ratings
I was attracted to this film for a simple reason: my girlfriend is very fond of animated films. From the same creators of "Despicable Me", its quite interesting and begins with a good premise: what do our pets do when we leave home every day...
The whole story revolves around Max and Duke, two dogs who end up lost in New York. While the remaining animals in the building join forces to find them, led by a cute little dog, Gidget, they end up in trouble when they find - and irritate - the mob led by Snowball, a lovely white rabbit who has a deep hatred for humans. This film was made for younger audiences but not entirely for children, I believe, so I think that children over seven or eight years old will understand the film very well, which is not exactly shocking.
One of the most interesting things here is the long list of adorable and cute characters. The dogs (Max, Duke, Gidget, Pops, Buddy and Mel) are noteworthy but are closely followed by the rabbit, Snowball, which was so successful and became so popular that it was one of the movie's merchandising hits. The obese cat Chloe, the guinea-pig Reginald, the budgerigar Sweet Pea and the hawk Tiberius also deserve a special look. The dialogues and jokes were well done and there are subtle nods here and there to another studio works (particularly the "Despicable Me" franchise) as well as other popular films and series like "Saturday Night Fever". However, jokes and humor are not to laugh out loud and sometimes barely works. The film has excellent voice actors, most of them with some other voice works in their pocket. Among them, I highlight the performance of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell, Steve Coogan and Kevin Hart.
Technically, it was difficult to demand better. It has one of the best opening sequences I've seen in animated films, with the animals taking care of their owners' houses as soon as they walk out the front door. CGI and the quality of the animations are impeccable, with the animals drawn in their details, magnificent colors and light, movement and action at the right times and inexhaustible doses of cuteness. I read some comments on the Internet in which some people said they had experienced difficulties with the pace, with the second part proving to be more tiring and dragging. Personally, I didn't feel that much, I think it developed well and the final part was really fun. Perhaps yes, one or another scene takes longer than necessary, perhaps a more skillful editing effort has been lacking, but that seem to me a minor problem. Finally, I still have to leave a note of praise for the excellent soundtrack, by Alexandre Desplat, with some jazz tones that are simply pleasant... and pertinent! After all, it's New York!
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The Secret Life of Pets is my new favorite modern animated movie. The movie is jam packed full of pet humor and pet cuteness. It also has a lot of heart and is a joy to watch. The visuals are also breathtakingly stunning. I'm looking forward to rewatching this one down the road someday. Perfect for kids AND adults.
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The Secret Life of Pets is an ADD-addled mess of a movie — and that, amazingly, is its charm.
Moves like a bat out of hell from frame one, though if you’re looking for any kind of emotion you might be barking up the wrong tree.
For all the genuine charm on display, you may be disappointed to find that manic activity overtakes said charm, and that more isn’t made of a simple, clever premise.
Like the professional dogwalker who can’t exactly keep count of Max and his cohorts, it feels like the filmmakers are juggling too many chatty creatures at once, while trying to maintain a plot that tends to grow more outlandish as the story progresses.
Resisting the temptation to invest its characters and storytelling with any particularly winsome, distinctive qualities, the film quickly devolves into an infernally busy and overextended chase sequence crammed with desperately unfunny comic patter and noisy, pointless action.
As a kids film its fine - some nice CGI, some fun songs and hey, numerous cartoon animals, including, but of course, multiple cartoon dogs - whats not to like about that?! However, the basic story has been, pretty much, done to death and all the rest of it, so its a 4 star rate from me on the basis kids will quite enjoy it but no more, as it isn't particularly memorable. I think I prefer All Dogs Go To Heaven but then thats because I grew up with that film and the plot is a bit different, so maybe its not really a fair comparison - still, CGI dogs, as I said before - whats not to love?!.
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One of the first animated films I've seen in a while that actually has the audience's attitudes shift wildly in relation to the main characters. And that's not necessarily a good thing. Pick a character. Any character. Did I like them consistently throughout the film? No. Did I dislike them consistently throughout the film? No. Did I end up liking them in the end? Most likely, but it's still a flawed system. There are a lot of ****, jagged-edged ideas in play here -- ideas and concepts that we've honestly seen done much better in other films (see "Toy Story," "Zootopia," etc.) But it's honestly the intention, the overall sweetness of the ending, and the undeniably creative animation that won me over in the end, thus allowing Illumination to -- once again -- JUST skirt by, in my eyes.
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I think there is a reason we can't understand animals and aren't aware of their secret live, it is this film.
The Secret Life Of Pets
Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney, the directors, are not the supervisor to have. But then I wouldn't just blame them. In fact, I wouldn't blame them at all. The writing is bizarrely dull. It almost looks like they went with the "first draft". In fact at a certain point, the character says, "Why is this mouse still on my paw?" while being annoyed by the mouse in her paw. And just as annoying and repetitive that sentence was, the film feels irrelevant plenty of times. And let me draw you attention to editing as well. For instance, take the confrontational scene of Duke (Eric Stonestreet) when it visits its previous owner's house.
The entire sequence is a big fumble, neither ready to land on any decision nor confident about what it has to say or act like. Addition to that, the editing is eerily uncomfortable to go through, none of the emotional scene tie up in one thread. As far as the content is concerned, it is exactly like Toy Story, a world within a world that feeds the same purpose and emotion concerning its equation with the human.
But it doesn't have big stars or funny material or three dimensional characters nor is emotionally complex nor nail-biting antics, so you have that to look forward to. The vocal cast is actually hilarious from Louis CK to Kevin Hart. And it would have been a lot better if they weren't in lease and were told to do or say what or how they feel like, at least the laughs would come in easy. The Secret Life Of Pets is no secret that it is a bad film- I am just going to say it- and it doesn't have any life in it, pets, yes, there are tons to drool over, the animation is all adorable and cuddly.
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The only merit this film has is not being either a reboot or a sequel.
Besides it, it relies so heavily on secondary characters that it becomes a collection of isolated jokes in a sequence where the main plot dilutes as the film advances, making the whole story pointless.
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Production Company
Universal Pictures,
Illumination Entertainment,
Dentsu,
Fuji Television Network
Release Date Jul 8, 2016
Duration 1 h 27 m
Rating PG
Tagline Think this is what they do all day?
Awards
Kids' Choice Awards, USA
• 2 Wins & 4 Nominations
Golden Trailer Awards
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Annie Awards
• 2 Nominations
