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The Secret Life of Pets (2016), PG, ★★1/2

I'm standing in front of the door waiting...
What happens when an owner like myself leave our pets at a house or apartment? Well, I don't know unless you have a camera at your house/apartment to see what our pet is up to. Is it asleep, running around, making a mess, eating, drinking or still waiting in front of the door? Regarding its first teaser, which was a joy to watch, it sold me regarding how cute and astute most of the pets are when they did unknown and funny activity around the New York apartments. The movie's result has already been originated from Toy Story, and for that reason, the movie is familiar in its storyline with some funny but predictable humor.

Max (voiced by Louis C.K.), is a dog that has a lovable owner named Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper). After Katie leaves for work, Gidget (voiced by Jenny Slate) asks what Max's day will consist of. His response that he'll just be waiting in front of the door for Katie. Max is visited by Chloe, a fat cat, Buddy, a pug, and Mel, a dachshund (voiced by Lake Bell, Hannibal Burress and Bobby Moynihan) to just hang out while Sweet Pea, a bird (voiced by Tara Strong), turns on a fan and pretends to fly with jets on TV.

That night, Katie brings another dog named Duke, a Newfoundland (voiced by Eric Stonestreet). Max is horrified and quickly makes it clear as to how he feels towards the situation regarding Duke and Katie. The next day, Duke and Max obviously do not get along and Duke tricks Max into being dragged into the city. When they are being attacked by the cats, both Duke and Max are caught by Animal Control. They are rescued by a white rabbit named Snowball (voiced by Kevin Hart) as they both convinced him that they are throwaway pets.

Gidget finds out that Max and Duke are missing. She recruits a hawk named Tiberius, a hawk (voiced by Albert Brooks), to find them and she and the rest of the domesticated animals find out that they are both at the sewer. The group finds out from Snowball that he is going to kill both Max and Duke.

Snowball's carrot key.
There's a lot to like surrounding this movie: the vibrant animation, its cute animals and some funny humor. But, regarding the humor, in my opinion, the jokes are inconsistent because it relies so much regarding their bodies, animal puns and slapstick. It becomes a bit tiresome, thus, making most of the characters, but not the animals, not as memorable as we want them to be. The lead-up to the big adventure was sort of a bore because we already find out its tone based on its marketing campaign but also again, the storyline is so familiar with a dog being jealous towards another dog. All in all, this is the same movie as Toy Story.

I thought most of the actors did a great job creating their own voice persona towards its characters, in particular, Louis CK, I thought he stood out. It makes sense for him to be a part of this movie because he definitely has a love for New York. Kevin Hart as the somewhat villainous bunny was comical but different. Eric Stonestreet was fine in his performance as Duke. And, Jenny Slate, had more to do than the usual supporting female character like Bo Peep from Toy Story that was delightful.

Kids and maybe some pet-owners are going to like this movie a lot for most of the humor because it is geared towards them as it could maybe be relatable to a situation. I feel like Universal and Illumination Entertainment missed a big opportunity to create something original and instead, they went with a Toy Story reboot with pets and therefore, you can see most scenes coming a mile away and it becomes a bit frustrating. This latest animated home has some funny moments that translates into mostly the climax of the film leading to a somewhat uninspiring ending with again, colorful animation. However, I feel like I have seen the whole movie before with a much better movie like Toy Story and some elements of a really bad movie, Garfield. I'd rent for the kids and for families to watch on Netflix or on television.

**1/2


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