A few years ago I watched the original The Secret Life of Pets and I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Sure enough, Illumination (who mainly makes the Despicable Me/Minions movies) cranked another one of these out of the animation factory. I didn’t have the motivation to see it in theaters, but I was willing to see a sequel once it hit Blu-Ray. Usually sequels (especially from studios not known for A+ films almost every single time) aren’t as good as the original, but did the 2nd movie prove that rule wrong?

The film takes place a few years after the events of the first film. Life is pretty normal for the animals in the New York City neighborhood. They all have nice homes and loving owners, but one thing that changes for many of them is a baby/kid in the house. Max hears about this, and he doesn’t think it will happen to him. Well…his owner Katie falls in love with a guy named Chuck, they get married, and not long after…

Their son Liam is born. And the little guy gets on Max’s nerves once he starts to crawl and even worse when he starts to walk. But once he starts to talk, and says “I love you, Max!”, the doggie’s opinion of his human “brother” changes. Soon enough, Max is willing to do almost anything for his beloved Liam.

But Max starts having “health problems” after he gets too protective over Liam and it messes a bit with his brain. Katie takes him to a vet, and he gets the old cone of shame. He also gets took out on a road trip to a country farm owned by Katie’s uncle-in-law. The clever jack-russell terrier, Max will soon learn that country life isn’t too easy.

Overall I thought The Secret Life of Pets 2 was pretty mediocre. It’s not horrid, but it isn’t very good either. While it did really well at the box office, it didn’t do so well with critics and I have to agree with them on that one. The kiddos will probably still enjoy this one, but the plot and humor really needed a re-do.

Score: C