Review of The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) by Thequietgamer — 17 Nov 2019

A simple, cute kids movie with rambunctious comedy and a little bit of sentimentality thrown in for good measure. It checks every box when it comes to wholesome family entertainment and is even a slight improvement over its predecessor. The plot is more original (the first was a riff on Toy Story) and it's nowhere near as dark or violent since the action is delivered in a more slapstick manner.

I've seen a lot of criticism directed at the story being comprised of three separate threads, but personally I didn't find that to be an issue as it allowed for a wider variety of humorous scenarios to unfold while giving memorable side-characters like Gidget and Snowball something to do without having to shoehorn them into Max's adventure. I also feel they all came together nicely in the end.

The animation is absolutely gorgeous. Very bright and colorful. The pets themselves are of course adorable. I really liked how, minus the talking part, they all felt like real animals as a lot of their behavior is true to life even when played up for laughs or action. The voice acting is top-notch and has the added bonus of Patton Oswalt proving to be a better fit for Max than Louis C.K. did.

What's holding this back though is that it really is a movie just for the kids. Despite its best efforts there isn't enough depth to really grab adults in the same way a Pixar flick would. That's not to say parents might not still enjoy it for its silly sense of humor, but at the end of the day is simply a joke machine and not much else. Yet, it does take a step in the right direction as far as tone goes which has me more excited for a potential future for this franchise than the first one ever did.