The Secret Life of Pets 2— Down on the Farm, It was a Circus

The Secret Life of Pets 2— Down on the Farm, It was a Circus June 6, 2019

It’s a summer of sequels and reboots— more Men (and Women) in Black, more Spiderman, more Jurassic Park…. err Godzilla, a redo of Aladdin, Toy Story 4 and yes— the Secret Life of Pets 2. Sequels are rarely equal to the original, much less surpassing them. And this sequel is only 86 minutes long, even counting the hilarious real scenes of animals and humans doing crazy things trailer at the end.

On the one hand, this sequel is weak in the plot (actually two intertwined story lines), but strong on the set pieces which produce some real laughs (see the clips above). There are some very funny scenes, perhaps more than in the first film. The dominant players are Max the hound, Snowball the bunny (with an attitude), Gidget the miniature poodle, and new guy— Rooster the farm dog, played by no less than Harrison Ford. Judging from the laughs of both parents and children, there were enough sight gags and funny lines to keep everyone entertained. Sadly MIA was the giant poodle who loves head-banging heavy metal music. Instead we get a snow leopard who is a mere kitty in attitude. And what’s up with Sergei the owner of the circus who looks like the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz, but sounds like a Russian villain?

Though the entire film is animation, the animation is so advanced now that the 3-dimensional nature of everything is very impressive, not to mention the eye-popping colors of everything. Visually the film is stunning. A bit troubling was the tune at the end of the movie which sounded far too much like Bill Wither’s ‘Lovely Day’ but with small variations of tune and lyric. I hope someone paid royalties. On the whole, this is a good film for families with children of all ages, and there is enough humor adults will appreciate to make it a good time for all.


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