The Secret Life of Pets 2

The Secret Life of Pets 2 – When Max and Duke’s owner, Katie, gets married and has a baby, the pooches lives are turned upside down and Max becomes paranoid that something terrible will happen to his new human charge. When the family go away to visit family, Max finds himself challenged by tough farm dog who has no time for coddling. Meanwhile, the rest of the pets have their own adventures.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) – Directors: Chris Renaud, Jonathan del Val

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60791998

Rating: U

Running Length: 86 mins

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Hart, Harrison Ford, Jenny Slate

Genre: Animated, Comedy

REVIEW: THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2

2016’s ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ was a smash hit from the makers of the Despicable Me movies, and focused almost solely on Max, a Jack Russell whose nose is pushed firmly out of joint by giant newcomer, Duke. Unfortunately, although the trailers promised a small story about what the pets get up to while their owners are away, the film gave us this singular, much larger but very generic story. Thankfully, ‘The Secret Life of Pets 2’ concentrates far more on the smaller goings-on of the pets when left alone.

Three separate stories follow: Max, whose anxious possessiveness over new baby, Liam, is challenged by older, tough dog, Rooster when visiting a farm on vacation; Gidget, whose desperation to get back a beloved toy entrusted to her by Max; and Snowball, who must save an abused white tiger from a circus along with new dog, Daisy.  It’s a shame that although many of the house-loved animals are still present in ‘The Secret Life of Pets 2’ they take far more of a backseat. There is much less of their different personalities. However, it is fun to see more of Pops, the elderly dog who now teaches youngsters how to be lovably frustrating to their owners.

Although a little of the animal’s characteristics have been dialled back, keeping these stories small and simple works wonders for the movie. Just how expertly their plot threads weave together at the end reminds us just how talented these filmmakers are. Kids are bound to love the fun, jokes and colourful characters but this time around, there is plenty to offer the adults in the audience too.

CONTENT: IS THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

When Liam is a baby, he grabs Max, hitting him and being very rough with him (as babies often are!) This is mainly played for laughs but Max’s terror when Liam is nearby could be a little upsetting for some kids. This stage of Liam’s life seems relatively short-lived and soon he and Max are inseparable.

There are a few cutesy moments which in reality would be very unhygienic and not something to encourage children to do. For instance, Max regularly licks Liam all over his face and a young girl puts her toothbrush inside her rabbit’s mouth.

One of the characters stands on the railing of a high balcony, he jumps around, plays and leans over. While he is sure-footed, we mention this in case it encourages kids to do the same. In addition to this, many of the characters jump out of windows and move around on the fire escape steps.

Max is taken to a vet who specialises in pets who have behavioural problems but this is shown in more human terms as mental health problems. These are a little insensitive but nothing overly offensive happens. However, this scene could be a little scary for kids; a cat begins a normal conversation but becomes increasingly erratic and ends up attacking its owner. Two other cats with big eyes say in unison ‘We start fires!’ and as their big round pupils suddenly become sharp, a metallic ‘knife’ sound is heard.

Gidget loses something important and it lands inside a strangers’ home. She is about to enter without hesitation but suddenly becomes aware that numerous cats live there. These cats become extremely aggressive and violent towards each other so Gidget is forced to rethink her plan.

A tiger is kept by a circus and the owner is abusive towards it. It is kept caged and chained or trained by being forced to jump from a high platform into a small pool of water. It is clearly terrified and the circus owner takes great pleasure in using a large whip to scare it more and threatening it with a cattle prod.

A cat appears more relaxed than normal and tells a friend that she has been given some catnip. With the cat’s out of character behaviour and White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane playing in the background, this is a clear (but mild) drug reference.

When walking through a circus at night, a character is a little scared. They then look up at a bin that is shaped like a creepy wide-mouthed clown and lightning strikes behind it. This is a brief moment but could be quite scary for younger kids.

At the circus, two characters come across a pack of 4 aggressive wolves. While one character effortlessly deals with three, another character is stalked and chased by the other. This scenes lasts a couple of minutes and could be frightening. especially as it is obvious that the wolf intends to kill the character.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 FOR KIDS?

A far superior film to the original, ‘The Secret Life of Pets 2’ has a much better idea of what it wants to be and is all the better for it. The story involving the mean circus owner could be quite scary for younger kids so we recommend supervision for under 5’s, however we feel this movie is appropriate for kids of all ages.

• Violence: 1/5 (some martial arts-style fighting. The wolves are aggressive)
• Emotional Distress: 0/5
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (the circus owner is quite scary as are the wolves)
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 1/5 (a few mild insults like ‘dopes’ and ‘jerk’)
• Dialogue: 1/5 (the circus owner threatens to use the pelt of one of the wolves for his next coat if the others do not find the tiger that has escaped)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of friendship, family, love, anxiety, determination, helping a stranger in need and going out of your comfort zone.

Words by Laura Record