The Secret Life of Pets
The Secret Life of Pets, presented by Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures, is an upbeat and fun film about the mischief pets get into while their humans are away at work. The film takes place in a New York City apartment building where we meet a terrier mix, Max (voiced by comedian Louis C.K.) and his owner, Katie (Ellie Kemper). Life is good until one day Katie brings home a huge homeless, loveable dog, Duke (Eric Stonestreet). Max isn’t happy about the idea of sharing his home and human and is determined to sabotage Duke to get him kicked out, until one day while out on a walk the pair find themselves being chased by a dog catcher through the streets of New York City and must work together to make their way home.
During their journey, they find themselves in the sewers alongside of a militant fuzzy white bunny named Snowball (voiced wonderfully by Kevin Hart), who is the head of the underground group, “The Flushed Pets” who’s sole purpose is to overthrow humans and rid the world of domesticated pets. Snowball is a bit crazed and is full of hilarious one-liners throughout the entire film.
Meanwhile back at the apartment, Gidget, a pampered Pomeranian (Jenny Slate) who has a crush on Max, realizes he and Duke are missing. She rallies a crew of various other pets to set out to find the two dogs and bring them home. In the end, there’s a happy ending and everyone makes it home safe and sound with everyone a little closer and grateful for one another.
Directed by Chris Renaud, who also directed Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets is very entertaining and full of laughs for both kiddos and parents. 7/10
