Directed by: Chris Renaud and Jonathan del Val
Runtime: 86 minutes
The Secret Life of Pets 2 was an unnecessary sequel to an ‘only okay’ film. The Secret Life of Pets had an interesting concept that I have always pondered my entire life: what do our pets get up to when we leave the house? While this premise is good for a short cartoon episode, the original film managed to add some depth to this idea with the notion of a dog having to adapt and share his home with a new rescue animal. The animals were likeable, and you could really get a sense of what this small New York Apartment community was like. The Secret Life of Pets 2 unfortunately did not have anything else to say about our pet’s lives without us, and instead decided to tell a bizarre story about anxiety in animals and the mistreatment of white tigers in a Bulgarian travelling circus.
The storyline was a confusing mess, even for little kids. While The Secret Life of Pets had a very simple concept with a few smaller storylines woven throughout, this film seemed to be nothing but threads of storylines that barely intersected at the end. The entire film felt like a Saturday morning cartoon marathon with multiple episodes shoved into one screening. A lot of the promotional material that was shown for this film ended up in the final product. This was both frustrating and confusing, since the film ends up crammed with shorter segments that feel more like stand-alone jokes than a functioning plot. One scene in particular—in which Gidget the dog is trying to learn how to be a cat—played out exactly as seen in the advertising, with barely any reason or stakes. It had nothing to do with Max’s plot and if it had been removed, the film would have played out in exactly the same way.
The characters in the first film are the reason most would return for the sequel. Unfortunately, due to the lack of plot, some of these characters become less likeable and interesting. Patton Oswalt as Max is so loveable, but sometimes as our main character he becomes a little frustrating, compounded by the fact that he has become too predictable. His primary storyline throughout the film—falling in love with his owner’s child—is adorable and heart-warming, but the way that the writers turn this love into anxiety and stress diminishes Max’s growth from the previous film. Max also seems to have his own side-plot about becoming a brave dog (featuring Harrison Ford as a sheepdog named Rooster, naturally), but this barely intersects with what I can only guess was meant to be the main storyline. While what Max learns from Ford’s Rooster does play a role in the conclusion, Max doesn’t seem to be the main driver of the plot at all; he just seems to fall into a unrelated situation and rise to the occasion.
The other characters don’t fare much better. Tiffany Haddish’s Daisy is an irritating addition to the family, seemingly existing so that Kevin Hart could bounce back and forth with a female character and occasionally to function as a plot device. Throughout the film I suffered from what could only be referred to as ‘Kevin Hart fatigue’ as his character Snowball is given way too much screen time. Snowball is adorable and the kids in my cinema absolutely loved him, but it feels like Kevin Hart was given a mic and asked to riff for an hour and then they just animated a bunny around him. There is a specific moment right at the end of the film when there is an inexplicable rap scene (I’m not even joking), and this feels like captured footage of Kevin Hart’s audition tape shoved on screen for the kids to laugh at.
While this film is definitely not stronger than its predecessor, it does have a couple of strong moments with pets being their awesome and wonderful selves. As the dogs are going for a car ride, the voice actors absolutely nail the excitement and enthusiasm of a dog getting to go in a car, which truly made me miss my wonderful dogs that I grew up with as a kid. I’m not made of stone!
Children in the theatre seemed to enjoy Snowball. They laughed at some of the physical humour. But The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a little too long, and without any narrative drive even the kids seemed to drift in and out. If anything, it made me clucky for fur babies and I am not embarrassed to admit that. But if you are interested in experiencing the magic of the first film, you are better off re-watching The Secret Life of Pets.
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