At the very end of The Secret Life of Pets 2 (SLOP2), the sequel to the harmless, ho-hum kiddie blockbuster of 2016, Max (voiced by Patton Oswalt), now wiser since the film started (which according to the continuity spans a weekend), ruminates on life and its curveballs.
“Nothing stays the same for long,” he narrates as the assorted set of cute, upbeat cast of animated characters readjust to their daily lives. “You have two choices [when things go wrong in life]: run from it — or run at it,” Max concludes, his worries reflecting those of an inexperienced father whose child is ready to face the world. This bit of sage-ish sappy, warm-hearted emotionalism feels a little out of place. Not much, but just enough to stand out.
Within 10 minutes into SLOP2, director Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, its sequel Lorax, the first SLOP) and screenwriter Bryan Lynch (Hop, Minions, SLOP), throw three short films together, hoping they’d come together by the climax — and they do. Kinda. Sorta.
Max’s owner Katie falls in love, marries and has a child named Liam. Max, uncomfortable with the idea of a baby, soon finds himself worrying for the little tyke. His anxiety of keeping Liam safe from the big, bad world gives him a case of involuntary itches. Max and Duke (Eric Stonestreet), are soon on a farm, where they meet a gruff-sounding Alpha dog named Rooster (Harrison Ford, sounding more awake than his last few films).
Meanwhile, the furry bunny Snowball (Kevin Hart), donning his superhero persona, helps out Shih Tzu (Tiffany Haddish) rescue a white tiger cub from an evil circus (yes, all circus people are evil in the world of film).
Also, meanwhile, Gidget (Jenny Slate), Max’s Pomeranian gal-pal, loses Max’s favourite chew toy in a cat lady’s apartment. To rescue the toy, she trains to be a cat.
The ideas are simple and the production seems childishly simple to execute. However, every now and then, the screenplay hits it out of the ballpark, when we see animals behaving the way they do (the scene when Max goes to the vet is a gem). Pet owners, or adults in general, will find these brief pockets of humour diverting, in an otherwise harmless, perky kiddie movie.
Published in Dawn, ICON, June 16th, 2019