I went to see the movie The Secret Life of Pets about a week ago actually, but I did not get down to writing a review about it until today... It's nothing I was just too lazy. However it does not really matter, better late than never.
Just want to let you know that I am such a pleasant reviewer when it comes to animated movie. Therefore this blog might not be the right thing for you if you are looking for a professional review full of criticism. Moreover, I also have no intention to compare Illumination and Disney Pixar, in fact I also do not think that there is a need to make such a drama. That's right I'm a peaceful blogger.
First thing is the short movie Mower Minions. It is okay I think. Funny. Crazy. Anything people may expect from the Minions. It seems like the Minions have become the signature of Illumination already. However I hope they will less rely on them and create something new and bigger. Just one significant product is not enough. Oh and one more thing, I like the Corgi passer-by the best !!
Now to the main thing. About the storyline, for the first, like, five minutes I thought it would be a movie about the relationship between Katie and Max, then Max would turn the world upside down just to find Katie during the day. When Katie says she brings home something, I actually thought it was her boyfriend and there would be the dog-boyfriend rivalry. It turned out that I was wrong though. I like the secret life of other pets, but not the journey of Max and Duke. I think it is a bit plain, especially when they search for Duke's old house, well they solve the situation so quickly that it barely lay any impression. It would be much better if the creators had put some more scenes and details about it.
As for the characters, their appearance are adorable. I love how they include different breeds of dogs, I love to recognise them whenever a new one appear. I like the python-like dachshund the best !! We also have Snowball. I was attracted by him the very first time I saw him in trailers. He looks exactly like Cottontail Teemo, fluffy white fur, the carrot, the most adorable smile in the world, and hell a SATAN other side of him. For me the most real pet is Chloe the cat, however she is not so arrogant enough.
One big minus point about the characters is their development. In the beginning I thought that the movie had a very good starting point since every character has their own unique creation. and there would be so much more that it could bring about. However when the film finishes, there are still so many characters that have not been fully developed. One of which is the Hawk, all he has is just bad-ass entrance and... that's it, nothing more. Another one is Snowball, he switches from a devil SATAN to a sweet helpful comrade quite so promptly that I actually said it out "That's it? Now he's no longer the villian?".
Above are those things that I find not good, but it does not mean that I do not like the movie. I really had a great time watching it, a lot of laughter and "aww" and the like. Illumination is still considered new to the industry, I do not expect such a massive movie from it like how I do from a veteran like Disney Pixar. However this will not last for long. The next time I watch an Illumination movie I will expect to receive more, and then even more and more than this.
Now I really want to see The BFG coming later this July, so it is likely that my next review is about it.