We need to get our animal fix somewhere.There are, somehow, three entire plotlines that drive Chris Renaud’s fizzy, frequently silly “ The Secret Life of Pets 2,” a worthy if slightly less delightful sequel to the director’s 2016 animated hit. In cities like London, New York and Shanghai, where spiralling property prices have created Generation Rent, pet ownership is declining. Still, what a savvy, stroke-of-genius idea for a film this is. But the manic pace, piling on the action sequences, is exhausting.
And the animation is expressive (though cat Chloe is not nearly cold-hearted and sociopathic enough for a mog). There are some funny-sweet observations about pets and our projections on to them. The gang’s leader is an adorable evildoing bunny called Snowball – as villains go he feels a bit try-hard (and not nearly as twisted as teddy bear Lots-O’-Huggin in ‘Toy Story 3’). It’s not long before the two mutts are lost in the city, falling foul of a gang of animals rejected by their owners and reduced to living in the sewers. But things get more conventional when Max’s owner brings home an addition to the family – a slobbering rescue dog called Duke. And mongrel Max (voiced by comedian Louis CK) loyally waits by the door for his human to come home. A sausage dog gives himself a back rub with a food blender.
A puffy little white Pomeranian swoons in front of daytime soaps. A handsome poodle named Leonard switches on the stereo so he can headbang to hard rock. Front-loading the best bits, ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ begins by imagining what the animals in a New York apartment block get up to when their owners shut the door in the morning. The hilarious start of this cartoon from the ‘Despicable Me’ team feels lifted from one of those pets-do-the-funniest-things montages on YouTube.
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