The Secret Life of Pets 2

The Secret Life of Pets 2

Starring Patton Oswalt, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Tiffany Haddish

Directed by Chris Renaud & Jonathan del Val

The Story:
Max (Patton Oswalt) and Duke (Eric Stonestreet) are living the dog's life in their apartment with their owner, but when she marries and has a baby, Max in particular becomes worrisome about the new addition - until he falls for him, and sets out to protect him from the world, which results in him suffering from constant fears.  To relieve his stress, the family travels to the country where they meet Rooster (Harrison Ford), a Welsh sheepdog who teaches Max how to be brave and see the world in a new light.

Meanwhile, Gidget (Jenny Slate) is entrusted by Max to watch his beloved toy Busy Bee before he leaves, and she manages to loose the toy in the home of a neighboring cat lady who has dozens of cats living with her.  She turns to her feline friend Chloe (Lake Bell) to teach her the ways of the cat so she can infiltrate and retrieve the toy.

In the same complex, rabbit Snowball (Kevin Hart) fancies himself a superhero and calls himself Captain Snowball, and is visited by Shih Tzu Daisy (Tiffany Haddish), who asks for his help in rescuing a tiger from an evil circus owner named Sergei (Nick Kroll).  The two manage to free the tiger, but find themselves hunted by Sergei and his wolves, and once Max returns to town, everyone gets involved in saving the tiger's life and proving their bravery.

The Summary:
There's been sequels released that have obviously come about when their original parent film surprisingly made a killing, and it was obvious that the original was supposed to be a one-off, but since it made money they obviously return to the well in hopes of earning some more easy cash.  "The Secret Life of Pets" came out in 2016 and was a wholly original idea in the guise of "Toy Story" - what really happens to our lovable four-legged friends when we go to work?  The result was a visual masterpiece that incorporates important life lessons (even from dogs), gut-rolling humor, and a solid ensemble cast that is more than able to tackle the excellently written script.  So when the film made over $368 million dollars, a sequel was almost immediately green-lit despite the obvious notion that there wasn't an idea for a sequel in the first place.  Much like those other cash-grab sequels, "The Secret Life of Pets 2" doesn't supply anything new to the story and looks like it was either a) three discarded ideas for different episodes or b) different writers' ideas of bringing different stories to the table and very haphazardly bringing them all together in the final moments.  Either way, the magic of the first has all but evaporated, but still provides some solid laughs and important life lessons.

The film splits itself up into three different stories that combine in the end - one story centering on Max and Duke, one on Snowball, and one on Gidget - and each story has its own charms, but also its own pitfalls as well.  The movie would've been better if it had kept the ensemble cast together the entire time instead of splitting them up, and it seemed that this would've been better suited for a series of episodes on Netflix rather than a full-length feature film.

One story focuses on Max and Duke, and finding out that their family is expanding when their owner marries and gives birth to a baby boy.  Max at first is hesitant because he dislikes kids, but grows to love Liam and sets out to protect him from everything - resulting in him getting a nervous itch and becoming paranoid of everything around him.  The family goes on vacation to the country where they meet Rooster, a sheepdog who's poised, confident, and fearless - and who takes Max in under his wing.  This is the heart of the film, and delves into important issues that families face with pets when they introduce a new variable to the household - a child.  We see how pets react when a baby arrives, and we feel Max's distrust at first and protective nature as it develops, and can appreciate that type of thing.  Max also learns bravery finds out that the first step of being brave is acting like you're not afraid, and is something that we could all learn from.

Patton Oswalt takes over the voice of Max after Louis C.K.'s sexual misconduct allegations, and gives his traditional Oswalt performance here.  Eric Stonestreet returns as Duke, but isn't given anywhere near the material he got in the first film.  Harrison Ford joins the voice cast as Rooster, and surprisingly this is his first voice-over performance, and delivers his natural gruff persona to Rooster that makes him equal parts fearless, no-nonsense, and even sympathetic.

The other story focuses on Gidget, the lovable Pomeranian who once again proves she's got more to her than her spoiled nature as she has to infiltrate a home filled with cats to rescue Max's favorite toy that he entrusted her to watch over.  This story is the comedy of the film, providing some of the funniest moments of the movie as we see Gidget learning from the always amazing apathetic tabby cat Chloe how to be a cat, leading to some truly laugh-out-loud moments.  Once again, Jenny Slate and Lake Bell deliver tremendous vocal performances and really bring these second-tier characters to the limelight.

The third story centers on Snowball, the former bad rabbit turned wannabe superhero who calls himself Captain Snowball, and who's hired by newcomer Shih Tzu Daisy to rescue a tiger held captive by an evil carnival owner.  Obviously, this story is the action of the film, as we're treated to a superhero side story where Kevin Hart once again gives a heartfelt, humorous vocal performance alongside newcomer to the series Tiffany Haddish (who Hart co-starred with in "Night School") as they both work brilliantly off one another and provide some great animated action with their combined chemistry.  This story also brings everyone together in the end, but by that time we don't particularly care as much as should've if this was the sole story told throughout, but it still manages to provide some charm.

The Summary:
Possibly working better an episodic series, "The Secret Life of Pets 2" proves that returning to the well solely because the original made money doesn't necessarily mean you'll strike gold twice, but due to some great voice work and comedic timing, still provides some humor and heart.

The Score: A-