Secret Life of Pets 2 short on inspiration

Max (Patton Oswalt) in The Secret Life of Pets 2. Image courtesy Universal Pictures.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 is an average entry in Illumination's animation stable. It's colorful and cheery, containing a skosh of inventiveness and a hint of weirdness or inspiration, just enough to maybe think the movie will actually be sort of interesting. Illumination movies never come close to fulfilling those flashes of interesting because of uninspired animation and static writing. Because mediocrity is easy, and it's far more profitable to be inoffensive than experimental.

Picking up some time following the events of the first film, Secret Life of Pets 2 is divided into three plots. Plot A has Max (now voiced by Patton Oswalt) and Duke (Eric Stonestreet) dedicating themselves to their owner's (Ellie Kemper) son Liam. They spend much of the film at a farm, with Max learning lessons about courage from the bold Rooster (Harrison Ford, clearly not caring). Plot B has Snowball (Kevin Hart) joining new dog Daisy (Tiffany Haddish) in an adventure to save a white tiger from the evil Sergei (Nick Kroll) and his wolves. They also run into the crotchety Pops (Dana Carvey) along the way. Plot C has Gidget (Jenny Slate) taking cat lessons from Chloe (Lake Bell) to get a toy back from some vicious kitties. The three plots eventually intersect in the third act, with the pets joining forces before getting rewarded for being very good dogs, cats, bunnies, and tigers.

Good lord is Secret Life of Pets 2 boring. Even with three plots, there isn't a lot actually happening on screen because the narratives are unambitious. The jokes rarely land, sort of stuck in this weird liminal state between catering to children and serving adults. Despite having quality comedic talent (Oswalt, Slate, Bell, Haddish, and even Hart), it's impressive how few jokes land. There are a few interesting ideas – a nice animation sequence with Snowball, the conclusion to Gidget's story – but not enough to ever be memorable. Things happen in Secret Life of Pets 2, but they're more incidentally quotidian than engaging.

The mistake of splitting Secret Life of Pets 2 into thirds is a lack of time for story development. Max and Duke at the farm with Rooster could be interesting, if the film allotted more time to add depth to the adventures and provide a concrete lesson that doesn't feel rushed. Snowball and Daisy saving the tiger is a fun idea, but it needs more time to build tension and establish the wolves as a full threat and give the tigers something more to do than hide. Gidget and Chloe is about as complete a story as this film has, but it could still use more time to explore the divine weirdness of its premise. This is pretty par for the course for Illumination, which toys with cool ideas but strays away to provide a mundane viewing experience.

 

If there's one thing Secret Life of Pets 2 has in its favor, its the relationship between Max and Liam. There's an inherent sweetness to watching a dog and his boy bond, with Max evolving into a guardian for his adoptive child. Even if this plot, like much of the rest of the film, is underdeveloped, the moment at the end where Liam hugs his dogs still hits the heart strings effectively. The brilliance is in its simplicity; the scene succeeds because it connects to a lot of childhood memories. If the movie knows one thing, it's that dogs are more often than not the best. (All scientific evidence shows my golden retrievers, Currie and Haley, were the best.)

That's one of the reasons I liked this movie more than the original. Haddish is a nice addition to the franchise, and adding her cuts down on Duke. Secret Life of Pets 2 cuts back heavily on the time padding and replaces it with actual plot, and an incomplete plot is far better than no plot at all. Adding Liam and avoiding a repeat of the jealousy plot of the original makes for a more touching film, albeit one that still feels incomplete. Secret Life of Pets 2 isn't particularly interesting, but it's inoffensive enough to keep kids occupied until the next Toy Story movie comes out. It's also really difficult to make an unappealing film about dogs.

Review: Two and a half out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: PG

Run time: 86 minutes

Genre: Animated

tl;dr

What Worked: Voice Talent, the Max-Liam Relationship

What Fell Short: Lack of enthusiasm, Underdeveloped Plots

What To Watch Instead: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

LEGO Batman a fun takedown of the Dark Knight

Batman and Robin in The LEGO Batman Movie. Image courtesy Warner Bros.

The LEGO Batman Movie is worthy of appreciation solely for offering a humorous look at the eponymous vigilante, serving as a contrast to the űber-dour caricature inflicted upon cinemas for nearly three decades. The concept of Batman is silly, so having a resource that deflates the character's overwhelming seriousness – and far, far away from the Zack Snyder interpretation – is sort of a blessing in and of itself. That Will Arnett's vocal work adds an additional layer of sarcastic self-importance to Batman only adds to the fun the film offers for much of its run time. Arnett's take worked great in The Lego Movie, his Batman serving as one of the highlights of an overall terrific film. But as the lead of his own film things get a little squiffy. The joke about the super self-important Caped Crusader runs dry by the midway point and the lesson the character is meant to learn less interesting than the one offered by this film's predecessor. So while LEGO Batman Movie is one of the best films about Batman in years, it a less than stellar movie about toys that induce sharp pains in one's foot when stepped upon.

Admittedly, the main issue comes from the films’ senses of humor. The comedic brilliance from Lego Movie doesn't shift over to Batman's feature film due to the absence of writing/directing duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord. They are replaced by director Chris McKay – whose work includes Cartoon Network staples Robot Chicken and Moral Orel – and a bevy of writers who can't replicate the mashing of plot and jokes accomplished by Miller and Lord. LEGO Batman Movie is a little looser with its plot, the jokes more often coming as asides than feeding from the flow of the film. (the comedic vibe is quite similar to the aforementioned Robot Chicken.) Not to say the film isn’t funny – the talents of Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Jenny Slate, Doug Benson, Ellie Kemper and the rest of the cast keep things afloat – but the jokes are forced and come in a less organic fashion than its predecessor.

Fortunately LEGO Batman Movie retains the underlying inventiveness of Lego Movie that makes the latter so memorable. The master builder concept from the first film carries over, reinforcing the creative aspect of the product this film is trying to sell. The filmmakers also take advantage of the access to characters outside the DC universe, giving the filmmakers access to Batman's rogues gallery (Riddler, Two-Face, Joker, Harley Quinn and many others) along with random villains Voldemort, Godzilla, King Kong and the gremlins from Gremlins. It adds to the playfulness of the endeavor, along with contributing to the weird vibe the film taps into on a regular basis. Weird is good for a film about toy blocks, so the frequent non-sequiturs back to previous Batman iterations (including the shark repellent) add to the meta humor the film succeeds at hitting.

The filmmakers were smart enough to avoid retelling Batman's origin story and focus instead on his connections with new ward Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), new police commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) and faithful butler Alfred (the wonderful Ralph Fiennes). Batman's tragic beginnings are well-trod at this point, so skipping them offers more time to analyze who Batman is now . LEGO Batman Movie has one of the better explorations of what drives Bruce Wayne to be Batman, even if it is done in a somewhat blunt and very child-friendly way. It explores how Batman would respond without villains to fight (Batman ennui is the best ennui), how far over the line Batman goes to capture criminals (along with the consequences of doing so), and the co-dependent nature between the character and his enemies. One of the main subplots, Galifianakis' Joker feeling spurned by Batman's blasé attitude toward him, is the most interesting interpretation of their duality depicted in a major motion picture. Viewers learn more about the Batman character in this film than they do after more than two hours of him acting like an idiot and waiting to fight Superman. That is one of the benefits of parody, as removing any sense of verisimilitude takes the audience a step away from the cinematic universe; the only way to fill the gap is to explore the character to the very bottom of his soul.

Review: Four out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: PG

Run time: 104 minutes

Genre: Animated
 

Ask Away

Target audience: Families, Batman fans and people who enjoyed The Lego Movie.

Take the whole family?: This film is generally tame and the humor is appropriate so even the younger kids won't have an issue with it.

Theater or Netflix?: A matinee screening would work just fine if you go see it.

What else is missing from this movie?: Mark Hamill. Zach Galifianakis does solid work as the Joker here, but it still pales in comparison to what Hamill did on Batman: The Animated Series and several other formats. Hamill could hit the light notes the film requires of its joker, but the moments of menace that Galifianakis can't quite hit would be filled perfectly by Hamill.

Watch this as well?: The Lego Movie is a helpful complement to this. This film also references a lot of the older stuff Batman has starred in, so including a few episodes from the Adam West era, the brilliant Batman: The Animated Series, and a couple of the Tim Burton/Chris Nolan reboots is handy as well.