A madcap caper full of densely-packed sight gags, dizzying action set pieces and a healthy side-helping of Reynaud trademark silliness.
A not-so incredible journey.
It’s an amiable time-passer, and hopefully a promise of even better things to come.
A glorified hairball pulled together from the strands of better, more appealing movies and then noisily coughed up and disgorged at a multiple...
The Guardian June 23, 2016 It’s not ground-breaking, but there are laughs, and it is a good audience movie.
The film [is] loud, colourful, frantic in pace, but less than the sum of its parts.
Maybe Illumination and Universal should look at why Pixar succeeds instead of just ripping them off and regurgitating the leftovers.
The Secret Life of Pets is strong enough that parents won’t fall into a catatonic state while watching it with their offspring.
Laughs are laughs, whether you know some of the punch lines ahead of time or not. And "The Secret Life of Pets" has plenty of laughs.
The Secret Life of Pets plays to animal lovers in the audience without offering up much original story.
The Secret Life of Pets is a beat-for-beat recreation of Toy Story.
The Guardian June 26, 2016 It does deliver brilliantly when it comes to visual jokes, action set pieces, physical comedy and unabashed silliness.
The Secret Life of Pets is a pet-lover’s loving salute to the domesticated animals we rely on to bring us comfort, companionship, and tr...
As the owner of a Maine Coon I’ve weed-whacked into a goofy lion cut, I gulped when Snowball the bunny, a former magician’s assist...
The film’s messy pile-up of comic diversions can be exhilarating in the moment-the chaos of an id given free rein.
The Australian September 9, 2016 It’s co-directed by Chris Renaud, who co-directed the Despicable Me movies. It doesn’t rise to that level, but it’s still full of...
The Secret Life of Pets moves like a bat out of hell from frame one, though if you’re looking for any kind of emotion you might be barki...
An affable adventure with a strong voice cast. What it lacks in originality, it claws back with strong visual gags and a witty script.
The big chase scenes and action-movie adventures are fine. But what delights here are the small details of what happens once we close the door ...
Boston Globe July 7, 2016 Capable, agreeable, and also predictable.
MovieFreak.com August 9, 2016 After the first ten minutes I was incredibly excited to discover where the lot of them were going to take things next. I shouldn’t have...
Village Voice July 1, 2016 The Secret Life of Pets is an ADD-addled mess of a movie – and that, amazingly, is its charm.
The animated action is bouncy and frenetic, and if the story becomes a little too busy, it moves quickly and makes room for a barrage of...
"It’s not Pixar, but it’ll do" may get families in the theater, but it’s not an inspiring proposition.
Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, and Brian Lynch’s script includes some clever observations on the dynamic between animals and humans, and some funny...
Dogs and cats living together equals mass hysteria, and adding in lizards and pigs hijacking cars turns everyday situations entertainingly nutty in...
It’s strange to say a cute but conniving lap dog is the role Louis C.K. was born to play, yet here we are.
The formula may be familiar, but the personalities are completely fresh, yielding a menagerie of loveable – if downright ugly – cart...
Toronto Star July 7, 2016 Well-groomed characters carry the day.
Independent June 23, 2016 Boasts some inspired visual and verbal gags as well as plenty of very vivid characters.
A movie in which things happen from one second to the next with no particular logic, to no discernible effect.
guidelive.com July 7, 2016 The animation is wonderful, leading to plenty of colorful visual gags and over-the-top situations.
Individual moments are very funny, even joyous, but the storyline wavers in tone, oddly sour, and too close to "Toy Story" parts one and three.
Like a dog that endlessly chases its tail in circles, Pets is amusing for a while, then it just tires itself out.
You won’t feel anything at all. There are no clever catchphrases. There is no message, meaning, or moral. Nobody even makes a speech abo...
It’s fun to imagine what mischief pets could get into when their human’s aren’t home, and "Pets" does a great job of taking...
Plays as if it were stitched together from every haphazard notion tossed out in an early brainstorming session, with no subsequent editing or refin...
It is an incredibly simple yet irresistible idea for a movie. It’s also exactly what you think it’s going to be – no more, no...
The Secret Life of Pets is a brazen retread of Toy Story – an identical animated blockbuster in almost every aspect, except for the charm...
Detroit News July 8, 2016 The film is as loud and busy as expected from modern cartoons. But there’s nothing deeper at play, no clever animal insights, and nothing tha...
Won’t rock anybody’s world among connoisseurs of talking animal sagas; this one is basically a peppy gag reel, and more likely tha...
The Secret Life may take a dog’s perspective, but it’s not a bad metaphor for the neighboring nations of heaven and hell foun...
A thoroughly amusing comedy.
Beyond a few ingenious touches here and there, The Secret Life of Pets is a fairly standard kiddie caper that borrows heavily from Toy St...
money.cnn.com July 8, 2016 What should have been an enthusiastic tummy rub doesn’t merit more than a grudging pat on the head.
A lot of movies abandon smart ideas. "The Secret Life of Pets" is one of them. There are still some laughs, and the animals are cute.
New York Post July 7, 2016 This simple premise, spun into a caper by the canny team behind "Despicable Me" and its hyperactive sequel, "Minions," makes for a p...
Draws on the universal experience of pet ownership to draw out the "awww" in all of us. But the film butt-scoots by on its premise. There’s n...
The Atlantic July 10, 2016 There’s something quietly therapeutic about spending 90 minutes with some nutty, heroic furballs on a hero’s journey wit...
This sporadically adorable, mostly forgettable family comedy exploits the fetching premise outlined in its title for the first five minutes. Then...
"The Secret Life of Pets" is a hilarious account of the relationship we have with our animals, and a gentle reminder to treat them with l...
A film that starts off impressively but gradually tires itself out with a loud and loopy caper plot, taking a clever idea to mostly famil...
Rolling Stone July 6, 2016 an animated fluffball-a sort of Toy Story with pets – does everything to drive you crazy and ends up by being totally irresistible.
The Secret Life of Pets' ambition to tell the stories it dares to tell, even the dark ones, is admirable. And occasionally its slapdash energy even...
An amusing animated adventure full of talking animals that should please both children and their parents.
Lots of fun stuff in this kiddie-pleasing film full of appealing characters… A good story jarred by frenetic pacing
Kinetic at times, colourful and with scattered humour, The Secret Life Of Pets is a treat for children, but offers no great insights into the...
While a Busby Berkeley number set in a sausage factory is good fun, too much of the film feels like hot dog filler: inoffensive but also insub...
There’s too much dark, even mean-spirited cynicism. And the ending isn’t nearly as heartwarming as it could have been because the write...
"The Secret Life of Pets" is the disposable, summer diversion that many families will be looking for as temperatures rise and the start of school s...
