Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-09-2016, 11:13 PM:

Since this was one of the few movies this year (that isn't rated R) to have actual "laugh out loud" trailers, and also since "Despicable Me" is one of my favorite movies, I was really anxious to see this one.

I didn't love it like I hoped I would but I didn't hate it either. It's a fun ride. As has become the template for non-Disney animation, this is mostly a zany action movie for kids. On that level, it delivers in spades.

Storywise, it's basically a cop of the first "Toy Story" without the emotional involvement, but with animals instead of toys. Max the dog lives in a New York flat with his owner, Katie, and suddenly gets an unwelcome new roommate: Duke, a big furry mongrel -- because Katie is a "dog person." (According to the neighbor cat, "Dog people do really weird things, like, they get dogs instead of cats.")

Naturally Max is major upset, and plots to get rid of Duke, but then they both wind up at the mean neighbor kids house -- oops, in the sewer, with a bunch of other misfit pets who were "flushed" by their owners. Thus starts their unlikely friendship and their trek back to Apartmentville.

Meanwhile Max's neighbor dog, Gidget, notices he's missing and goes on a dog-hunt of her own, with the help of a bunch of other pets.

It all leads to a whole lot of wild chases and action scenes, climaxing with (shades of "Finding Dory") animals driving a truck down busy New York streets.

The story begins and ends without packing much emotional punch -- Katie never even knows her beloved pets are missing -- and thus there's no tear-jerking reunion scene at the end. This is probably fine, though, because a scene like that would have the kids squirming.

The real high point of this movie is the voice cast. They give the movie about 90% of its humor and about 100% of its heart. Louis C.K. is terrific as Max, Kevin Hart is hilarious is a wisecracking, smartass bunny, and the best of all is Jenny Slate as Gidget. Ellie Kemper does a nice job as Max's owner, Katie, who looks like an even skinnier animated version of Ellie Kemper.

I was wishing for more of Chloe the cat. She has a cool cat attitude ("Max, I'm your friend, and as your friend, to be honest, I don't really care about you or your problems") but isn't given much interesting to do as the movie goes on. Dana Carvey was really funny as an old dog ("At my age every breath is a cliffhanger"). I suppose with so many characters it made it tough to get in much character development.

The animation and sound design were very good, and I thought it was kind of funny that the one-sheet for the next Illumination movie, "Sing," shows up as an ad on the back of a bus during one of the chase scenes.

Overall I would give this movie a 3.5. Kids will love it, and adults will find it bearable if not really memorable.

The show opens with "Mower Minions," which concerns the Minions deciding to hijack a lawn-care business in order to earn money to buy a blender. It has the requisite Minion potty/slapstick action and humor. (Look for a garden gnome from the short also making an appearance in the main feature.) It's about as far opposite from Pixar's most recent short, "Piper," as you could get. I assume the Minions are poised to become more of an annoying presence over the next few years, same as Scrat has in the Blue Sky Animation movies.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 07-14-2016, 04:59 PM:

I thought Louis C.K. really proved his worth (and voice) as Max - the story felt a tad homogenized and placating to the masses but it was generally entertaining. I absolutely loved Desplat's playful musical score and the Atmos soundmix was fun, albeit I was a little too close to the screen to hear the center rear surrounds, the squirrels throwing the nuts from the tree overhead was a fun audio cue.

okay I'm a sucker for the Minions - thought the short 'Mower Minions' was a hoot. "Scrat" on the other hand I wanna strangle.

Posted by Jarod Reddig (Member # 6363) on 07-15-2016, 05:29 AM:

Spoilers. I agree Mike I had same expectations going in and mirror your thoughts. Funny how the first 2 or so min was one of the popular trailers exactly. I felt they did a pretty good job making everyone laughing and involved. That's not easy. It was a movie that you knew after the first 15 it was gunna be that kinda movie. Classic old pet hates the new arrival. I wanted more realistic pet situations but I'm a grownup. Overall I think Zootopia is the better movie. It kept me guessing while Pets had me waiting for next joke. Not a bad movie tho. I'd give it a 3.5/5.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 07-15-2016, 07:37 AM:

I enjoyed it. Cute movie. I particularly loved the totally apathetic bulldog with the metal muzzle. Even when being bashed around in the cages, complete apathy. Had me rolling.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 07-21-2016, 07:16 PM:

I was disappointed with the lack of activity given to Sweet Pea, the budgie. Perhaps because I love budgies (and keep talking myself out of starting to raise baby budgies because I would have to keep all of them and what would I do with 100 budgies?) after seeing a budgie on the one-sheet and in the trailer, I was really looking forward to seeing what the budgie would do in this movie. Answer: Not much outside of what was in the trailer. The other birds and animals all talked; the only ones that didn't were the squirrels and Sweet Pea. In fact, the budgie didn't do much of anything other than fly around with the rest of the gang.

The best character is definitely Chloe the cat.

I think the scene where the little dog releases the hawk is pretty scary for a movie for little kids, though.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 09-10-2016, 05:49 PM:

^ Haha, Frank and his budgie fetish! [Big Grin]

From the makers of Despicable Me comes a film with more despicable characters than Despicable Me. In truth, of course, there are no truly despicable characters in Despicable Me but the same can't be said for The Secret Life Of Pets.

Lovable lost and found hound, Max (Louis C.K.), gets his nose out of joint when his owner brings home another stray dog, Duke (Eric Stonestreet). In a fit of jealousy over the loss of his singular place in his owner's heart, Max does a series of not very nice things to Duke in order to foster disfavour between the newcomer and their owner. Duke responds by doing some not very nice things in return, the result of which is the pair getting some not very nice things done to them by a gang of mean spirited alley cats. After the cats snip the pair's ID tags, the two are whisked away by some not very nice dog catchers only to be subsequently released from their "prison" by some not very nice ex-pets who are plotting a revolution from the city's sewers and......well.....you get the picture. Even Max's unrequited love interest, cute fluffball Gidget (Jenny Slate), has a mean streak when it comes to protecting her betrothed. It's a kids movie with a gangsta flavour and it leaves a sour taste.

Of course, Pets are really like this. They're naturally selfish, jealous creatures - and we love them all the same - but this is fantasy and we need characters we can fall in love with. And when just about every character is rocking this ugly gangsta shtick, it's a struggle to find a likeable character in The Secret Life Of Pets.

The story structure is almost non-existent. The tale merely starts from the beginning and then meanders to it's predictable conclusion with very little in the way of defined acts. As a result, it feels aimless. A road trip of a movie which ponies up one unlikeable character after another.

The film is peppered with funny vignettes on pet behaviour which are true to tone and keep the proceedings watchable, at least. The best of these vignettes, however, were contained in the films original teaser trailer which culminated in Leonard, the death metal, head bangin' poodle - and this remains the best joke in the film.

4 out of 10