Some fun moments, but ultimately not a good watch overall due to the lack of a plot really

Rating: 4/10 (11 September 2016)

"The Secret Life of Pets" is one of the most known animated films from the United States this year (2016). The two directors and four writers who made this include a couple names that worked on films from the Minions universe, so nobody should be surprised that a Minions short film runs before "Pets" and there is also another reference at the very end with one of the pets being dressed like a Minion. But back to this one here. I was as unimpressed by the outcome here as I was by the newest "Minions" movie. The film runs for approximately 90 minutes and gives us an insight into the life of pets and what they do when their owners are off to work and not in charge. Heard that before? That's right. The general idea here reminded me a lot of the Toy Story approach to things. And there are more references. For example, the two main characters (dogs) felt a lot like the protagonists from the "Monsters Inc." universe in terms of their size and interactions. So yeah, "Pets" definitely borrows a lot from other films, but what is the most disappointing thing is that it tries to be creative in its own right at times, but almost never succeeds and this is pretty shocking looking at how many filmmakers worked on this one.
"Pets" is definitely not a failure and there are several parts where I enjoyed it from the comedic perspective. I also liked some minor references, for example early on about how the main character does not like to be alone at home. The comedy is not the problem here. It is the emotional impact. The only part where it is close to making one is when we find out about the new dog's owner and his journey back to his old owner's house. Other than that, the drama is entirely forgettable and good animation is just not enough anymore today on the level of Pixar quality. There are many flaws with the story in here. First of all, the makers threw in character after character without really elaborating on any of them. Honestly, counting all the (lost) pets, there are enough characters for three films in here. Another problem is their behavior. It felt a bit strange how they quickly stepped in for each other out of nowhere when moments before we still felt that they did not like each other at all and this refers to the two dogs as well as the fluffy white rabbit who turns out the main antagonist. We see all the time how evil and cold-hearted he is and then out of nowhere he risks his life for his enemies basically.
Another big problem I had with the film is that I had no idea what the characters' goals were throughout the film, at least for the two dogs. Enjoy a day out? Run from the lost pets? Run from the dog-catcher? They were just out there and it really had no purpose and then in the end they return home safely and it's all good with everybody being friends with everybody. I was not convinced at all. Also about the love interest of the main character, there was contradictory behavior. On one occasion she acts as if she wants nobody to know who she has a crush on and then she screams it out to everybody. It was pretty bizarre and the writing really lacked a lot on some occasions. This is also why my overall verdict for the film is negative. I give it a thumbs-down and if they ever make a sequel I must say I have very little interest in seeing it as this film was quite a disappointment and for me personally, it is nowhere near being a contender for best animated film of 2016, even with all the known voice actors in the German as well as English version. Not even for Louis C.K., everyone can be a winner.