The Toy Story of animals

Rating: 6/10 (5 October 2016)

The Secret Life of Pets is about pets and their world. Just like in Toy Story, the animals can speak and have a life of their own when the humans aren't looking or are away at work. The dog Max is living a quiet life with his owner Katie. One day she gets a bigger dog called Duke and immediately they start to fight to win her love. After having argued and fought out on a walk, Max and Duke gets lost in the underworld and meets other animals that don't live a fancy pet life like they do.
The Secret life of Pets is a film like many other animal films and yet it succeeds in entertaining in a charming way by taking us on an adventure where we get to see life from their side. Films like Oliver & Company, Babe and Homeward Bound The Incredible Journey, comes to mind. Animal films are far from new and often contain a worn out story but despite this The Secret Life of Pets really delivers. I think one of the films central elements is the balance in the humor. There is clarity in the dialogue that is easy for children to understand, but there is also another dimension clearly meant for adults. This is often the thing that family films are having difficulties with, to be appealing for both children and adults. The latest Ice Age film that I reviewed here did not succeed in this. The other thing that I really think is the key to the success of this film is the tempo. With its one hour and 27 minutes, the film is not really that long but the time is well disposed and few scenes contains unnecessary things. It also makes us the audience wanting to see more of these animals when the film is over. I am not so sure that we would want that, had the film been 20 minutes longer and slower.
The characters in the film is well thought out and shaped to fit this kind of road movie where someone travels forward. They usually include some sort of leader, someone who is a little stupid, someone who is a bit dangerous and also someone who is cocky and perhaps too brave. The Secret Life of Pets has all of these characters and also a villain, a white bunny. Perhaps a hint to Monty Python's evil bunny in the The Holy Grail and also ironic because a bunny is usually seen as cute and harmless. Quite fun, much due to Kevin Hart's great voice acting. The film summarizes itself well towards the end with several morale plot parts. Don't judge people (in this case animals) based on their appearance, comradeship, the ability to share and also that certain things that you want are often found right in front of you if you just look close enough. Definitely good messages for a family film, very often already told, but if delivered properly and in a new way like here in The Secret Life of Pets, they are worth telling several times over again.
David Lindahl - www.filmografen.se