The Secret Life of Pets

Hey all the movie buffs out there, today we will be reviewing the animated film “The Secret Life of Pets”. We will plunge into detail aspects of about the movie and give you our views on the same.

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 87 mins

Language: English

Budget: $75 million

Box Office: $875.5 million

Producers: Illumination Entertainment

Release Date: 8 July 2016

Top Billed Cast: Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Steve Coogan, Ellie Kemper, Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Jenny Slate, and Albert Brooks.

Director: Chris Renaud

IMDB rating: 6.6/10

Our rating: 7/10

Official Pages : Site

A brief Summary: This movie produced by illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures brings an instant smile and curiosity to the movie watcher. The title as it suggests lets the viewers see behind the scenes life of a pet once it owner leaves it behind at home while going out for work. The movie traces all the shenanigans of the pets bundled with their camaraderie with other pets of the same building. Pet lovers get a slice of life take in this animated flick giving them an insight of their pet’s antics and answer the question” Ever wonder what your pets do when you’re not home? “

The below mentioned synopsis contains spoilers about the movie.

Synopsis: The movie begins in a Manhattan building in New York city and this is where we are introduced to Max the dog a breed of Jack Russell Terrier.Max is happy in his life with her owner Katie ad we get a glimpse into his life where he is riding around the park in Katie’s bike and how the two of them met when he was a puppy.

Soon we are introduced with Max’s friends from other apartments in the building when Katie leaves for work. They are Pomeranian Gidget, cat Chloe, pug Mel, dachshund Buddy and budgerigar Sweetpea. We clearly see the bond and friendship these animals share with each other, Like Gidget has a crush on Max who is completely unware of it, Chloe that eats her owner’s food instead of her own. Sweet Pea the bird that turns on the fan and pretends to fly with jets on TV and so.

Later in the night, Katie brings home another bigger dog named Duke, a mongrel from the pound. Max suddenly feels unimportant and jealous. He is not happy with Katie’s decision and see Duke as potential threat towards his postion. He makes it very obvious to Katie and Duke by barking at them and letting them know his feelings. Next day after Katie leaves for work, Both Max and Duke shatter most of the house in a bid to outdo each other and establish themselves as the alpha male.

One day during the park visit with all other dogs, Duke devises a plan to get rid of Max and tricks him outside the park in an alley. In this alley they are terrorised by a bunch of cats who take away their dog collars and make them run away. While on the run both of them get captured by animal control officers.

While begin carried away in the truck, the animal control group is attacked by Snowball the white bunny and his crew a lizard and a tattooed pig in an attempt to sabotage the truck and free one of their crew members. They successfully crash the truck in a nearby wall and Snowball introduces himself to Duke and Max as the leader of Flushed Pets. They are the pets who were abandoned by their owners and live down in the sewers now. Duke and Max sense this as last resort to survive and lie about killing their owner and escaping to Snowball and get included in their crew.

Down the sewer, they find out that the numerous pets down there have strong sense of resentment for humans and they plan to wage war on them. As a part of initiation process for both, they are told to get bitten by one-fanged viper. Before the initiation could take place, one of the alley cats reveals their true identity by displaying their collars and this enrages Snowball for the betrayal. He commands the viper to kill them off but an unfortunate series of events leads to the viper getting crushed and Max, Duke escaping through a ferry bound for Brooklyn.

Meanwhile Gigdet is getting worried sick back at the apartment for not seeing Max for a long time. She seeks help from a hawk named Tiberius who brings one of the alley cat as a hostage. The cat admits to knowing the whereabouts in the sewer. Gigdet then decides to form a search party with all the other pets and goes to see elderly dog named Pops. Pops has all the pets in the neighbourhood over since his owner is rarely around, and Pops knows all the pets in the city. He guides the pets to the roof in his own way toward the sewers. Once they get there, they find the Flushed Pets with Snowball plotting revenge. When both groups learn that they know Max and Duke, the Flushed Pets chase after the house pets.

Arriving fresh of the boat from Brooklyn, Both Max and Duke raid a sausage factory and start bonding over. Duke reminisces about his previous owner to Max and how he got lost and ended up in a dog pound. Max decides to help Duke to reunite with his previous owner and they head towards his house. After learning about his owner’s demise, Duke is heartbroken and starts barking loudly in pain. The animal control is called and they manage to capture Duke in the process. While Max chases after the truck to rescue Duke, Snowball emerges from the sewer with his crew to attack him. In a bizarre turn of events, two members of the crew get caught by the animal control guys and Max and Snowball decide to team up and chase after the truck. hey hijack a bus and follow the truck to the Brooklyn Bridge. The bus falls and causes a traffic jam while the truck swerves off the bridge and gets stuck. The other house pets arrive just in time to help them. Max rushes to save Duke, but the truck falls into the river with both dogs in it as Max tries to get the keys. Snowball then plunges into the river and gets the keys back to Max so he can get Duke out, and they all swim to the surface.

All pets rejoice and return home in stolen taxi. Max finally admits his feeling to Gigdet and is impressed for her heroic act, Gidget responds by licking him. The Flushed Pets are about to return to the sewers until a little girl sees Snowball and adopts him, making him happy once again. All other pets return to their respective homes. Katie is extremely happy to greeted by her two dogs when she returns home at night. The three of them then go out onto the fire escape to see the city at night. We are left with the sights of a strong friendship and connection happening between Max and Duke.

Some Technical aspects and Trivia: The following as discussed-

  • The cinematography is quite beautiful in the movie and deserves a special mention. The Cinematographic Process used are Digital 3-D (source format) and Digital Intermediate (2K) (master format)
  • The 3D animated characters bring life on screen and look relatable. There is good amount of humour quotient as well.
  • The script of the movie is crisp and keeps up with the theme of the movie.
  • The editing is top notch and keeps the viewer engrossed in the movie.
  • The director holds the viewer attention throughout the movie and has done a commendable job with the pace of it.
  • The Sound Tracks are well blended in the storyline and do not disturb the flow of the movie. The Sound mix used are Dolby Digital, SDDS, Datasat. Auro 11.1, Dolby Atmos
  • The movie is the fifth highest-grossing original film of all time (behind Avatar, Zootopia, The Lion King, and Finding Nemo) and the sixth highest-grossing film of 2016
  • The movie was nominated in 13 different categories across various awards

Overall: This is a fun filled movie to watch with your family and friends. It does not cater to any specific age group and will be liked by all. We eagerly wait for the sequel which releases on July 3, 2019.

 

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