The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

There's a montage about ten minutes into The Secret Life of Pets that pretty much sums up the whole film: cats aggressively pound on keyboards the moment their owners leave for work, dogs go absolutely mental at passing squirrels, and a budgie sings along to death metal when the house is empty. It's funny, it's sharp, and it makes you think you're settling in for something with a bit of wit behind it. And then the plot kicks in, and you realise that was more or less the best of it.

What follows is a brightly coloured, energetically paced diversion aimed squarely at children and the parents supervising them, and on that level it does its job well enough. Illumination's animation sparkles with detail. The bustling streets of Manhattan, the expressive fur textures, the chaotic energy of a city seen from paw-height, all of it is rendered with the studio's signature polish. This is a good-looking film, no question about it. If you've seen Despicable Me, you know what Illumination can do when they put the craft first, and the craft here is genuinely impressive.

The voice cast delivers reliably too. Louis C.K., Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, and a particularly scene-stealing Albert Brooks as a melancholic basset hound all bring warmth and comic timing to their roles. There are genuine laughs scattered throughout, and the film moves quickly enough to hold younger attention spans without completely losing the adults in the room.

But here's the thing: once that opening montage fades, the story that takes over is thin and derivative in a way that's hard to ignore. The central setup borrows so heavily from Toy Story that it almost feels cheeky. A beloved pet feels threatened by a new arrival, jealousy causes chaos, a journey unfolds, a bond is formed. Pixar did all of this, and they did it with a genuine emotional pull that Secret Life of Pets simply can't match. It's not that the film doesn't try, it's that it doesn't try hard enough.

The villainous "Flushed Pets" gang is the clearest sign of the script running on fumes. They're underdeveloped, their menace constantly undercut by tone shifts between slapstick and mild peril that never quite settle. By the second act, the film locks into a familiar rhythm of chase sequences and narrow escapes. Competently done, sure. But rarely surprising, and impossible to get emotionally invested in.

This is the central problem with a lot of Illumination's output, and it's one I keep bumping up against. They clearly know how to make a film look fantastic and how to hire people who can deliver a funny line. But the stories themselves often feel like they were designed by committee with a checklist rather than written by someone who actually cared about what happened to these characters. It's a criticism I've levelled at The Lorax before, and it applies here too.

None of this is to say The Secret Life of Pets is bad. It isn't. For a Saturday morning watch with younger kids, it's perfectly serviceable. It's funny in stretches, visually appealing, and harmless in the best sense of the word. The kids in the room will enjoy it, and you won't be checking your phone every five minutes.

Three stars.

But like a forgotten squeaky toy under the sofa, it's the sort of film that vanishes from your memory almost as soon as the credits roll. There's no scene you'll be quoting the following week, no moment that catches you off guard emotionally, no character you'll find yourself thinking about on the drive home. It exists, it entertains, and then it's gone. Illumination are capable of better, and the frustrating thing is that you can see the potential for it here. They just don't seem particularly bothered about reaching for it.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2016  | Watched: 2026-04-06

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Sky Go · Now TV Cinema
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Watch in the US
Stream: Hulu
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Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Chris Renaud: Despicable Me (2010) · The Lorax (2012) · Despicable Me 2 (2013) · Despicable Me 4 (2024)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)