Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 5 June 2019
'The Secret Life of Pets 2' is a well-crafted sequel

By MARK KENNEDY Snowball, Eric Stonestreet
Associated Press as the goofy giant New-
If the sweet, animated 2016 foundland, Lake Bell as the
film "The Secret Life of Pets" laconic cat Chloe and Jen-
was mostly for kids, its new ny Slate as the plucky Po-
sequel might be for another meranian Gidget. This time,
segment of the audience though, our main hero ter-
altogether — whoever is rier Max is voiced by Patton
buying the tickets. Amid Oswalt, replacing the dis-
the cute critter shenani- graced Louis CK.
gans, this one has plenty of Both films in the franchise
lessons for the parents. deal with a new addition to
Most of the same gang is the family. In the first, it was
back this time: Kevin Hart a new dog that allowed
as the fluffy white bunny the filmmakers to explore

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Liam, voiced by Henry Lynch, from left, Max,
voiced by Patton Oswalt, Duke, voiced by Eric Stonestreet in a scene from "The Secret Life of Pets
2."
Associated Press

sibling rivalry. This time, the others ones, to find his inner gineered this movie is, a
stranger is a baby, who superhero. cover of Bill Withers' "Lovely
Max learns to love uncondi- Oswalt is a fine replace- Day" is used at the end, a
tionally but which also ups ment for Max, able to callback to the original
his anxiety levels. (Any heli- connect with the charac- song's appearance in the
coptering parent out there ter's timidity, wonder and first film. It also opens with
knows what we mean.) blossoming courage. He is "Empire State of Mind," an
Returning screenwriter Bri- helped by a gruff farm dog echo of how the first one
an Lynch and returning di- voiced by Harrison Ford, opened with Taylor Swift's
rector Chris Renaud, who who unfortunately muddies "Welcome to New York."
also voices the guinea pig his first animated voice role There are some nifty touch-
Norman, have actually with some hyper-masculin- es, including a dream se-
concocted three interlock- ity. quence in which Snowball
ing plots in "The Secret Life Ford's alpha dog is pure ac- fantasizes about being a
of Pets 2 ." It's a wise deci- tion cool, ripping off Max's caped crusader, which
sion since none are deep cone in disgust (not the creates a comic book se-
enough to carry the film best message for kids in quence INSIDE an animat-
alone, forcing some con- treatment), rejecting Max's ed film. Bell pretty much
voluted stitching together. embarrassed neurosis and steals the movie when her
But they manage it, creat- being the cold, silent type. cat gets high on catnip and
ing a solid piece of enter- "The first step in not being later teaches Gidget the
tainment for all ages, if not afraid, is acting like you're "way of the cat" — com-
a terribly revelatory one. not afraid," he advises. plete with mandatory walk-
In one story, Max finds him- Ford gets to play with his ing on a laptop keyboard
self ever fearful for her own- own he-man screen per- and batting mugs off ta-
er's new toddler, stressing sona, but we're not sure this bles. All this with extraordi-
out as the boy's protector. John Wayne bit — or the nary animated effects. You
"Was the world always this whole dynamic of pam- will marvel at how real the
dangerous?" he asks after pered city folks versus tough illustrators have made this
a harrowing New York City country folks — is what we world, from rocky cliffs to
stroll. He even develops a need right now. Another speeding cars and dazzling
nervous scratching tick that drawback is the scary ele- eyes. In a neat twist, too,
requires a mortifying dog ments: fearful wolves and the cat lady becomes the
cone. A trip to a farm in the an awful villain with a whip butt of jokes but also this —
country seems to offer a re- and a cattle prod. a heroine.
spite. Getting his head right Even so, the majority of the If the knock on "The Se-
is his quest. film is carefully constructed, cret Life of Pets" was that it
Before he leaves, he asks switching from plot to plot was a rip-off of "Toy Story,"
Gidget to take care of his to plot while also incor- then the second film bet-
favorite squeaky toy. She porating old characters ter grounds itself in its own
promptly loses it in a cat — Dana Carvey's elderly universe. Like its main three
lady's apartment filled with Basset hound and Hanni- characters, it has learned
crazed felines. Getting it bal Buress as dachshund to be comfortable in its
back is her comedic quest. Buddy — in an increasingly own animated skin.
Meanwhile, Snowball is complex patchwork, fed "The Secret Life of Pets 2," a
asked by a brave Shih Tzu by a lively soundtrack that Universal Pictures release, is
(newcomer Tiffany Had- includes Stevie Wonder, rated PG for "some action
dish) to rescue a tiger cub Jefferson Airplane, Coolio and rude humor." Running
held by a malevolent circus and ZZ Top. time: 86 minutes. Three stars
boss. His quest is, like the As signs of how well en- out of four.q