![]() ![]() It's as if the multitude of filmmakers - the movie has two directors and three writers credited - are afraid of relying on a modicum of audience intuition. A vehicular chase scene involving Brooklyn is scored to the Beastie Boys' No Sleep Till Brooklyn, whilst a fantasy sequence about friendship is coupled with Queen's You're My Best Friend. The Secret Life of Pets takes the proverbial easy way out from the very first frame that shows exterior photos of famous New York City landmarks set to Taylor Swift's Welcome to New York. And despite the animated format and the main appeal to a youth audience, viewers can and should expect better than the less than stellar tricks the film uses to tell its story. It's a well-designed film, in as much as the design is to appease kids without actually challenging them in any meaningful way.ĭisney, Pixar and even (sometimes) DreamWorks have offered fair directed at children that has more depth, nuance and aesthetic pleasures than anything Illumination has cobbled together. Some of the jokes land well enough, most notably when the writers get a little macabre with their humor. ![]() It's a cute enough idea with a few moments that capture the premise's adorableness aptly - most notably an end sequence set to Bill Withers' wonderful Lovely Day - and nice voice work from Jenny Slate, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey and a few glorious seconds of a menacing Al Brooks. There's nothing overly wrong with The Secret Life of Pets. Making a movie with any true artistic statement, however, seems to be a little outside of its wheelhouse. Illumination knows exactly where it's bread is buttered and how to appeal to a wide consumer base. That followed a short film preceding the feature itself starring the company's breakout characters, the Minions. It's the kind of film that references the studio's most popular franchise, Despicable Me, twice in less than an hour and a half. ) Like its predecessors, The Secret Life of Pets is a serviceable enough film with a few flashing moments of intrigue overwhelmed by mediocrity and profit hawking. The Secret Life of Pets marks the sixth film animation studio Illumination has spawned and it follows in the footstep of at least four of those (excluding the miserable Hop.
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