The Secret Life of Pets

My son and the rest of the children in the movie theatre were screaming in excitement, while the adult audience did not have a hard time watching it, but just sit through it without any harm. In the opening fifteen minutes packed with gags, they even had a great time. But then the creators run out of ideas (and also effort) and switch to routine mode of a hundred times seen squeaking escapades with animal for the little ones, where the better moments are shamelessly stolen from other animated movies, namely from Toy Story to the full-length Sheep Shaun. The biggest stumbling block, however, is that in that excessive number of characters/advertisements for the plush toys only two characters have personalities (and therefore interesting), the rest of the characters have wasted potential (for example, the predator is basically the same character as Hank in Dory, but apart from his opening scene is only a makeweight). (08/23/2016)

After the trailer, I was expecting a bit more. But what I got was a standard animated film, which at times transitions into very good animation, and at other times delivers absolutely fantastic gags that got me. But otherwise, there's nothing extra that blew me away. The story didn't grab me and I found it very bland as a whole. It has nice details. The rabbit is a cliché, but good. (08/15/2016)

A very enjoyable animated film that gives you a good laugh (especially in the first half when you get to know the characters and during all kinds of falls, jumps, stumbles, etc.), but a deeper story or some kind of level would be hard to find (compared with last year's Inside Out or this year's Zootropolis), although the film did have some references to other films ("Dude, I'm a cat. - Well, nobody is perfect."), which I appreciate. In the end, it's a nicely spent ninety minutes, during which you revel in the animation rather than being offered any thought-provoking material. A film that will mostly entertain younger audiences and potential pet owners. (08/19/2016)

In the first few minutes I found myself gushing over the beautiful animated New York City and giggling at the pets' perfectly polished behaviors and movements. If you have one, you'll definitely enjoy how much these pets resemble yours. Cute, funny, apt... that's how the film starts. After that, it's just the same old story about one group of animals trying to save another group of animals from the pound and more. Children will be fine with this story, adults will not. 3 stars. (08/13/2016)

This is Little League as animal animation goes (even my daughter wanted me to switch to a Pixar movie), but it was watchable. The New York fly-throughs are gorgeous, but the animal animation not so great, and the script is chaotic. The only really memorable character is the white rabbit with the modest goal of wiping out mankind. P.S.: He doesn’t manage to. (02/09/2022)