Ever wonder what your pets do when you're not home?
Life is good for Max (voiced by Louis C.K.). He has a good home, a great owner, and great friends too (well, for the most part). One day, when Max's owner Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper) returns home, she brings home a large brown dog named Duke (voiced by Eric Stonestreet), much to Max's dismay. Out of jealousy, Max starts to ruin the house in order to try and get Duke blamed. Annoyed by this, on a walk in the park, Duke runs off with Max and attempts to get rid of them. Instead, he gets them both accidentally dognapped by Animal Control, and then freed by a maniacal rabbit named Snowball (voiced by Kevin Hart), leader of a vigilante group called the Flushed Pets.
The animation is really good. The view of New York City is very interesting, feeling like it pops out of an art book. The visual style (at least coincidentally) nods toward Oliver and Company once or twice. A few action scenes are well-animated and executed, and very thrilling and exciting for an animated film, even if they may seem a little intense for younger kids. A daydream-like scene late in the film is the most creative element in the whole film.
The voice cast does a lively job. The stand-outs of the film include Lake Bell as a sarcastic, clumsy cat named Chloe, Jenny Slate as the energetic, smitten poodle named Gidget, Albert Brooks (Marlin from Finding Nemo and the recent Finding Dory) as the insecure hawk Tiberius, and Dana Carvey as the elderly basset hound Pops. C.K. and Stonestreet are capable leads, giving decent back-and-forth banter at times. As the villain (of sorts), Hart does a good job. He can be a little loud and too improv-ish at times, but he does bring some energy and intimidation to his character. His character does bring to mind though the villainous rabbit from Hoodwinked!
Alexandre Desplat's music score works very well, with several old-fashioned and semi-jazzy pieces that really accompany the film nicely. Some hilarious moments, particularly at the beginning and towards the end of the film.
On the downside, Pets just doesn't bring hardly anything new to the table. A GoPro camera and a few modernized touches may try to help, but the plot feels like something I've seen a hundred times. I kept thinking of animal movies such as Oliver, Homeward Bound, Cats and Dogs, Aristocats among several others while watching this movie. Some gags are borrowed from other animated films as well. Pop songs are somewhat overused toward the end.
Illumination Entertainment started marketing this flick a year ago, when they showed a teaser of what the pets normally do when their owners are gone. It was a memorable, hilarious 2-minute collection that stuck in my head. It also made me fairly excited. I love animal/pet movies, and some rank in my favorites list (including the ones I mentioned earlier).
For the most part, the finished movie didn't end up disappointing. Pets is a lot of fun. It's got some hilarious gags, great animation, a terrific score, fun and quirky characters, and a few endearingly heartfelt moments. The story isn't first-rate, but it does give a bit of development for its leads.
It may lack originality, and it isn't quite the strongest animated effort this year, but Pets is still a rollicking and fun ride kids and animal lovers of any age will easily enjoy.
Score: 7.7/10
NOTE: Pets is preceded by a short starring the "Minions" called Mower Minions. The short includes a few hilarious gags but not every gag hits its mark. Overall, fairly decent but not their strongest short (Grade: B).
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of:
Language: "Oh my gosh", "heck", "stupid", and "idiot" are used a few times, but nothing truly profane. "Oh schnitzel" and "ah, pellets!" substitute for cursing also.
Adult Content: Nothing really. Gidget does watch a clean soap opera, and is apparently (innocently) obsessed with Max. In an odd moment, Pops becomes enamored with Chloe (his eyesight is poor). She eventually announces "Dude, I'm a cat!", to which he retorts "well, no one's perfect".
Violence: A little dark and intense for little ones. Dogs flip on a clothes-line and fall from ominous heights. A bird nearly eats dogs and cats (and a guinea pig). A scary-looking viper nearly eats animals and is crushed by a pile of bricks. An animal drives a truck recklessly through traffic and it crashes and falls into the water, nearly drowning a couple of characters. An owner is talked about being killed by a blender, and we hear other talk of very violent acts committed against humans. Flushed pets fight and knock out humans. A pet beats up several baddies. Other slapsticky violence.
Drugs/Alcohol: None, though two dogs hallucinate a vision from overeating (similarly to a substance hallucination).
Other: Though she eventually comes around, Chloe very rudely says "I'm your friend, and I gotta be honest with you, I don't care about you or your problems". Max intentionally breaks objects to try and get Duke kicked out. Occasional toilet humor gags, though (thankfully) they are few and far in between. Dogs sniff each other's rears. A dog drinks out of a toilet. One dog urinates briefly out of excitement. Snowball poops briefly. A sewer is said to smell like a combination of "poo poo and ca ca". One quick-passing fire hydrant gag.
