Family animation with a traditional feel

Rating: 6/10 (19 June 2016)

The Secret Life of Pets is a very family friendly, warm and fun movie. It has less of the tiresome pop-culture gags in it than some other animated releases, keeping the humour within more traditional themes as say an older Disney movie might do which renders it very suitable for anyone of any age.
The story follows a group of downtown New York city pets, two of whom run into some trouble during their routine "walkies". There's not much more to it than this, aside from the micro plots in each quick-fire set piece and the introduction of (perhaps a few too many) other animals but it is for kids and it does well to keep their attention for the ninety-odd minutes.
It features great vocal performances and nice (if unadventurous) animation. You won't see anything groundbreaking in this movie and it is unlikely to be one that's talked about much as time goes on, as it is weaker than the likes of How to Train Your Dragon or The Incredibles but if you're looking for a child friendly trip to the movies, this is arguably a good choice.
I'm not a huge animation fan (if you take a look at my other reviews) but I did not feel hard done by after seeing this one.