First Take: The Secret Life of Pets- yet another predictable animated film

SYPNOSIS: Taking place in a Manhattan apartment building, Max’s life as a favorite pet is turned upside down, when his owner brings home a sloppy mongrel named Duke. They have to put their quarrels behind when they find out that an adorable white bunny named Snowball is building an army of abandoned pets determined to take revenge on all happy-owned pets and their owners.

Illumination Entertainment have given us a lot of great films over the years, but unfortunately The Secret Life of Pets fails to hit the high standard set by the Despicable Me series. The film has some redemptive qualities, but unfortunately it suffers from the same clichéd archetypes of the modern animation genre- but that isn’t a bad thing.

For a start, the plot is too complex for a younger audience, as many children sat behind me during the screening fell asleep halfway through, but from a critical perspective, having a plot that takes elements of the ‘prison break’ narrative type is a bold move for an animated film, and just proves that Chris Renaud, who does a brilliant job as ever directing this film, knows how to bring some fresh ideas to the table. However, the voice cast is brilliant, with Louis CK, Kevin Hart and our very own Steve Coogan delivering many funny lines for children and adults alike, which handily brings me onto Ken Daurio and Brian Lynch’s script: it is literally laugh a minute at points. They have made up for a very poorly structured film with a lot of great visual and verbal jokes, passing the 6 laugh test with ease. On a technical level, the animation is top notch as usual, utilising the trademark Illumination look we’ve all come to expect from their other films, with Alexandre Desplat’s score adding to a very modern, inclusive film.

THE VERDICT

While The Secret Life of Pets isn’t the perfect animated film we were all expecting it to be, it still delivers the same things that keep families and children coming back to their local cinema, and in a year with quite a few films of this nature, it’s a great way to open up a very busy summer blockbuster season.

RATING: 3.5/5