![]() Using his trademark deadpan gruffness, Ford gets some of the movie’s few good laughs, and even forges a solid storyline with Oswalt’s Max, who is trying to be more tough. Then there’s Harrison Ford’s Rooster, a role that amounts to basically the most supporting of supporting characters, but he still manages to make quite an impression. In particular, Patton Oswalt’s stepping into the role of Max in place of Louis CK makes for an actual improvement to the character, as his vocal acting skills are the perfect fit for the wired terrier as he riffs rather well with the entire cast. On the more positive side, while the focus is lacking, the performances in The Secret Life of Pets 2 are actually pretty good. But with so many plot plates spinning throughout the movie, the story tends to almost always shift to another plotline just as you’re getting comfortable with one avenue or another. Late in the film, Snowball’s owner dresses him in a pink princess attire, lipstick included, but just when we might think this is Kevin Hart’s way of saying, “Look, I’m not that homophobic my character is a tough guy but he can also embrace femininity,” the bunny rips off the outfit and dons chains, baggy clothes and a hat to rap about how macho he actually is.If they all tied together organically by the end of director Chris Renaud’s second go-around on the Secret Life of Pets train, it would all be worth the effort. Family-friendly releases have the power to communicate nuggets of knowledge to young viewers, and when the information transmitted is this regressive, it’s worth raising the alarm. He equates courage with arrogance and other outdated perceptions of manliness.ĭefenders may argue it’s absurd to attribute such weight to an animated feature, but on the contrary, this is the content to which we should be paying the most attention. The character is disturbing in his unapologetic validation of behavior society as a whole is trying to eradicate. Rooster is the embodiment of phrases like “Men don’t cry,” and ” Rub some dirt on it.” This alpha dog rejects vulnerability by preaching about how sissified city dogs are. Ford’s character essentially stigmatizes mental illness and dismisses treatment as a made-up sign of weakness. Rooster shames Max for going to therapy and wearing a medical collar to prevent him from scratching himself out of stress. Making matters worse, Harrison Ford is cast as Rooster, a hyper-masculine shepherd dog brazenly teaching Max how to toughen up. It serves as an aesthetically refreshing oasis in a desert of mostly bland CG animation. ![]() This section of “Pets 2” includes a 2-D animated segment that showcases Snowball’s adventures as a crime fighter. Wearing a shiny outfit, the bunny vows to help small dog Daisy (an underused Tiffany Haddish) rescue a tiger from a circus run by heavily accented, Eastern European, clichéd bad guy Sergei (Nick Kroll). Meanwhile, former villain Snowball (Kevin Hart) believes himself a superhero. To achieve this, she partners with dismissive cat Chloe (Lake Bell), but in no way can “Pets 2” possibly pass the Bechdel test. Not surprisingly, her driving motivation for doing this is her dream of marrying and having a family with Max, not unlike Katie’s life in the human world. Quickly, once Max’s stress about protecting the boy is established, the narrative fragments into three separate stories that give us the sense of watching an episodic series.Īs Max and big dog Duke (Eric Stonestreet) travel to the countryside with their family, Pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate) is tasked with taking care of Max’s favorite chew toy, a busy bee. That trope is later reinforced through the pet characters.Īlthough initially jealous of Katie’s son, Liam, Max (now voiced by Patton Oswalt after disgraced comedian Louis CK was ousted from the part) soon discovers the kid is not his enemy but a loving companion and his responsibility. ![]() In this fictional universe, that’s clearly the only natural progression of events in a woman’s life. “Pets 2’s” descent into the bowels of what reads as conservative messaging begins as Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper), Max’s owner, randomly meets a young man, quickly marries and has a child.
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