The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

"I got big plans. 

I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna wait for Katie to come back."

Like 'Toy Story', but with your pets.

Max's life as the favourite pet is turned upside down with the arrival of a new dog - Duke.

I was so excited to see this film after seeing the hilarious trailer that circulated the cinemas and social media a few months ago. Animation seems to have found its stride these days so seeing another one is always (or so I thought) guaranteed to be fun.

Unfortunately, 'The Secret Life of Pets' doesn't quite live up to the hype that the trailer promised and it left me pretty disappointed.

Max has the perfect pets life until his owner adopts a new dog called Duke. The pair don't get along and, after bumping into a rabbit hell bent on destroying mankind, the two must team up and put their differences aside.

Pixar have always been the top dog (as it were) for animation and, no matter how hard they try, other studios never quite do it as well. Pixar make films that are intelligent and fun that entertain both adults and children alike, which is the golden recipe for animated films. Illumination Entertainment hit a good note with 'Despicable Me' and now they return with 'The Secret Life of Pets' after their last film 'Minions' that took over $1 billion worldwide. I liked 'The Secret Life of Pets' probably just as much as I liked 'Minions'... Which wasn't an awful lot.

'The Secret Life of Pets' is definitely more of a kids film than it is a film for all ages. There were a few jokes thrown in there that only the adults would appreciate but it's more aimed at the kids to laugh at the fluffy bunny and the clumsy dogs. 

What really disappointed me was how much they could have done with this story and didn't. It felt like a very "by the numbers" plot with worn out ideas and jokes. It wasn't particularly new or exciting which is what animation should be. They have the power to push the boundaries of what's possible in the genre, especially with the leaps forward in technology, and they didn't.

If 'The Secret Life of Pets' had been released 20 years ago then maybe it could have found it's place as an animated classic but, for the most part, it just felt a little dated and admittedly slightly boring. The animation is good but it's not among the best we've seen recently. Even the title is a bit on the nose because the film is literally about the secret life of pets.

My biggest gripe about 'Minions' was taking a really popular secondary character and giving them their own movie, it loses the novelty and they can't sustain a whole movie on their own. "The Secret Life of Pets' had a similar problem, the characters all felt like funny secondary characters in a sub plot or short film, which I feel probably would have worked better. None are particularly likeable and they are pretty much banking on you liking them because they are "cute".

What I did enjoy about the film was the fact that they effectively captured the characteristics of the animals. They had clearly done a lot of research on the different animals and picked up on some humorous traits. Chloe the cat and Mel the pug were fantastic and really caught the essence of what we love about those animals. 

The voice acting on a whole was pretty good with the likes of Kevin Hart voicing the evil mastermind bunny, who is leading the revolution against the humans. Hart is becoming over exposed recently and his voice is completely recognisable but, despite this, he is still one of the funniest characters in the film.

The comedy is sporadic for adults but the kids in the cinema were loving it. It's silly and it's slapstick and you don't need to think too much about it. 

Overall, 'The Secret Life of Pets' wasn't as good as I had been lead to believe. The best bits were undoubtedly shown in the trailer which is a real shame because the trailer itself was great.

Watch Disney's 'Zootropolis' and you'll see how to do these films right.

Genuinely believe my turtles get up to way worse than the plot of this film when I leave the house...