The Secret Life Of Pets

This review may contain spoilers!

An extremely adorable film but also not very memorable. I would give The Secret Life Of Pets a 6/10.

This is a charming and simple story about two dogs working out their differences and becoming a family, certainly nothing new but still a classic film narrative. There are also some great comedic scenes scattered throughout the feature; the cat versus dog dynamic was fun and the montage where you see what pets do while their owners are away is the best sequence in the film. The animation looks really nice, what I appreciated was how vibrant and colourful the film looked. The soundtrack was also exceptional with some very surprisingly good choices added to the mix; the score was also well done and had a classic animated film vibe.

Louis C.K., who voiced Max, made for a great protagonist in this film; he managed to portray a character who felt very emotive and sympathetic. Eric Stonestreet, who voiced Duke, took a bit to really get underway but his laidback delivery does grow on you; I really liked Duke's backstory with his owner as that added a great deal to his character. Kevin Hart, who voiced Snowball; is just crazy and a scene stealer from his introduction; Hart puts his all into this delivery regardless of his character's storyline being a bit confusing and absurd at times. Jenny Slate, who voiced Gidget, brought a really spunky character to the mix; I enjoyed Gidget's drive and at times intense motivation in her search for Max. Ellie Kemper, who voiced Katie, brings forth a rather sweet persona into the film; Kemper's character adopts strays and you can hear the kindness and love for her pets in her voice. Albert Brooks, who voiced Tiberius, was a scarily intense role at first; but Brooks works on making Tiberius grow on the audience as he learns to get along with the rest of the pets. Dana Carvey, who voiced Pops, was senile and a bit mad; Carvey delivers one of the most fun and quirky characters of the film. Steve Coogan, who voiced Ozone, was a great minor antagonist; he brought out a rather shifty alley cat who felt menacing.

However the best performance came from Lake Bell, who voiced Chloe. Bell's role was clearly meant as the more consistent comedic relief of the film and she certainly delivered. I had a lot of fun watching the running gags around this role and the clever cat stereotypes used to illicit a laugh. Yet it goes beyond just that; Bell crafts the patronising, superior tone of a cat rather well in her line delivery. I guess when it comes to this film I'm definitely more a cat person.

This film's simplicity and inability to do anything new makes the story labour and drag at multiple points; there wasn't a lot of substance to Secret Life Of Pets and I wondered if the writers ran out of content in a few scenes. The addition of Snowball and his fellow discarded pets seemed a bit over the top in how they were portrayed, their storyline didn't blend with the rest of the film very well.

Hannibal Buress, who voiced Buddy, was one of the truly boring characters within the film; he wasn't funny nor did his role add to the narrative. Bobby Moynihan, who voiced Mel, gave a role that just went a bit too over the top with his performance; Moynihan desperately tried to make his role a fun bit of comedic relief and failed spectacularly. Chris Renaud, who voiced Norman, had one of the most annoying voices of the whole cast; I truly wish this role had been scrubbed from the cast. Michael Beattie, who voiced Tattoo, was a pretty unimpressionable character within this film; I found Beattie's voice to be a bit bland which meant Tattoo had no screen presence.