Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures have had luck with short films that star popular characters from their franchises; most notably those minions from the Despicable Me series. This success with the short-form platform is experimented with in The Secret Life of Pets 2, the feature-length sequel to 2016’s hit family film.
I’ve been patient and forgiving with filmmaker Seth Gordon (who began his career with 2007’s acclaimed arcade doc The King of Kong) because I can see he’s slowly amounting to be a dependable director. Despite the abysmal and mean comedy Identity Thief, he’s usually able to drum up a lot of laughs with small casts (Four Christmases, Horrible Bosses, TV’s The Goldbergs). I suppose he’s been itching to branch out, but Baywatch was the wrong way…
Illumination Entertainment’s featherlight The Secret Life of Pets will surely entertain families. The vibrant animals and the large-scale chases will delight youngsters, and adults – who may already be prepared to count down the minutes – will find strange gratification from hearing R-rated comedians lend their vocals to cute animals.
The laughs in Seth Rogen’s first live-action sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising are every bit a part of the movie’s rollicking Revenge of the Nerds pastiche. The film is driven by the dubious actions and deceptive prank wars between two scrambling teams, which amount to amusing, frenzied chaos.
