Well, well, well, look who's back - it's me!! Has been
a long time, hasn't it? Did you miss me? (Please say you did) Anyway, I plan to
be more regular from now on, and I begin my comeback with a movie review - The
Secret Life of Pets!
Movie Review: The Secret Life of Pets
The Plot
You don't really need me to explain this, do you? The
movie features the adventures of a group of pets - that happen when their
humans' backs are turned. Yes, I know what you're thinking - kind of like Toy
Story's pet version.
Max is a cute (and mature-sounding) terrier from New
York, who adores his human, Katie. His friends live in apartments near his and
are quite a set of characters. (One of them is obsessed with soap operas) Every
morning till evening, Max patiently waits for Katie and is delighted to see
her. Till one evening when Katie brings home a huuge stray dog. Suddenly Max is
supposed to share everything, including Katie's affections. In the midst of
outdoing each other, the dogs land up in trouble with some stray animals, after
which they go missing. It's up to Max's friends to find him and bring him
safely home. Will they succeed? Or will they lose one of them in the process?
Fab's Review
Okay, now that you know the plot, it might seem familiar
to pretty much every other animated movie out there, but this one doesn't
really give you the deja vu feeling. For one thing, the animals are all
incredibly cute! Secondly, the characterization is interesting - you get to see
a few different characters that aren't usually seen in animated movies. Watch
out for Snowball - he's a gem!
The humor in the movie is a little low-key but still
enough to bring out the chuckles. The humans don't feature much, as is the way
it should be, keeping all the focus on the animals and their various
idiosyncrasies. The voice-overs are excellent, particularly Jenny Slate as
Gidget. Louis C.K. is perfect as Max and Eric Stonestreet was very good as Duke
- he didn't sound anything like Cam from Modern Family!
I don't think people are going to quote stuff from this
movie as much as they did from, say, Finding Nemo, but I think there are quite
a few subtle lessons hidden among the various scenes. There's a lovely message
about putting aside your differences and coming together for a common cause
(Max and Snowball). The fact that people can get over ideas they've been fed
since childhood and can accept others as their friends (rather than food -
Tiberius). I also liked the fact that Max's rescue team is led by a girl - one who
loves her TV soaps but is badass enough to fling people about in rage! (Gidget)
It also stresses on how appearances can be exceedingly deceptive (Lennard,
Snowball). More than anything the movie's about friendships - and how they can
be formed even among the unlikeliest pairs!
Verdict
The movie is a lovely watch and kids are sure to love
it! If you're a fan of animated movies and love animals, then this is a must
watch. The humor isn't very sophisticated, and the plot isn't ground breaking,
but it's still a cute little movie that leaves you feeling good and wishing
humans could get along the way the animals did.
Cub enjoyed the movie and was laughing throughout.
Right after we finished the movie, he said he was hungry, a request which ended
up in getting a Happy Meal from McDonald's. The meal is pretty measly - a
burger and a drink and no fries - but the real reason we got the meal was to
get this:
Yes, we got Gidget, who's currently missing her friends
and feeling lost in Lego City:
If you'd like to check out the trailer, you can watch
it here:
So what do you think, will you be watching The Secret
Life of Pets? If you've already watched it, how did you like it? Let me know!
