The Secret Life of Pets is no secret worth sharing

Ever since Toy Story broke new ground in 1995 with its computer-animated timeless storytelling, there has been a plethora of CGI movies. Of course, they’ve not all had the luxury of critical or box office success, but what is it about these movies that we love so much? Is it the bright colours, the wide-eyed characters and the total escapism? Partly, yes. But mostly, we’re drawn to the story. The animated world is just a beautiful and creative way to convey that story. Without one, it’s nothing more than eye candy.

These days though, it seems that movie studios focus less on the plot and more on how merchandisable one of these movies can be, but having seen everything from talking toys to talking cars, there’s very little left to cover, if anything at all. And now, from the creators of Despicable Me comes a movie about household pets. Sure, it’s buzz-lightyears away from originality, but then originality is a rare quality.

The premise here is simple: main canine character, Max, is cast aside when his owner brings home a new dog named Duke, who pushes Max around and threatens to hog the spotlight of affection. This suggests a story we’re all familiar with. I could list a dozen examples of two CGI characters who at first, hate each other’s pixelated guts, but grow to like one another by the story’s end through bonding-by-adventure. We don’t mind the odd re-hash here and there but it’s not really what this movie is about. 

Come on, Hollywood. We’re not that gullible.

The trailers also introduced us to a line-up of whacky animals who get up to hilarious things while their owners are out all day, suggesting of course, the “secret life” of pets. But the movie quickly descends into generic adventure territory which sees Kevin Hart’s evil rabbit, Snowball, and Steve Coogan’s mangy alley cat, Ozone, actually wanting to kill our main heroes for reasons unknown with the aid of a deadly python and an alligator. You know, everyday pets. 

On the other hand, the movie is beautiful – and I’m not talking about the characters. That’s not to say they don’t look decent (if you like your dogs square-shaped that is) but the backdrop of the beautiful, multi-layered Manhattan really begs for your attention and is probably the most memorable thing about the movie. Unfortunately though, having too many layers on visuals and none on the plot make this a less-than-average lost-in-the-city (ball of) yarn. 

If you’re a dog or cat lover and want to laugh at some identifiable feline or canine traits, or if you’re a child who will laugh at just about anything, then you might find some entertainment here. But the chances are you’ll find more if you attach a go-pro to your pet’s head while you’re at work. It just won’t look anywhere near as pretty as this movie.