There are some nifty touches, including a
dream sequence in which Snowball fantasizes
about being a caped crusader, which creates
a comic book sequence INSIDE an animated
film. Bell pretty much steals the movie when
her cat gets high on catnip and later teaches
Gidget the “way of the cat” — complete with
mandatory walking on a laptop keyboard
and batting mugs off tables. All this with
extraordinary animated effects. You will
marvel at how real the illustrators have made
this world, from rocky cliffs to speeding cars
and dazzling eyes. In a neat twist, too, the cat
lady becomes the butt of jokes but also this —
a heroine.
It all builds to a climax where all three plots
converge, some stretched uncomfortably.
Max is clearly the emotional center of the film
but Snowball’s journey is just weird, starting
as a bunny who plays a dress-up superhero,
morphing into a real superhero who is revealed
to be anything but, before proving he IS a
superhero, kind of. (Stick around at the end
credits for a clip of Hart as a gangsta Snowball
rapping “Panda” by Designer.)
If the knock on “The Secret Life of Pets” was that
it was a rip-off of “Toy Story,” then the second
film better grounds itself in its own universe.
Like its main three characters, it has learned to
be comfortable in its own animated skin.
“The Secret Life of Pets 2,” a Universal Pictures
release, is rated PG for “some action and rude
humor.” Running time: 86 minutes. Three stars
out of four.
MPAA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.