The Secret Life of Pets: Movie Review

The Secret Life of Pets is everything last weekend's box office flop The BFG is not. It's funny without being (too) gross. It's heart-warming and it's fast-paced.

The "humans behind Despicable Me" delve into the world of dogs and cats and rodent pets (oh my!) in this new Illumination production. And the talented vocal cast (including Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Hart) do themselves proud in offering families a fairly clean, completely fun, and good messaged movie.

Max (Louis C.K.), an adorable terrier, and his loving human, Katie (Ellie Kemper), are a match made in doggy heaven. Their lives are perfect -- until Katie brings home a rescue dog named Duke (Stonestreet). Vying for top-dog status, the two stubborn mutts lose their way in New York City and stumble into a cotton-tailed bunny with nefarious plans named Snowball (Hart).

Rated PG for action and some rude humor, The Secret Life of Pets is not suggested for the littlest ones in your family. There are some mean-looking and ill-tempered former pets (including a vicious viper) that are quite scary. Plus, some of those discarded, cynical pets go into detail as they maniacally laugh about how they'd like to kill humans for their misdeeds.

In the end, The Secret Life of Pets plays out well. It's an enjoyable popcorn movie for the whole family - save kids under 6 or so - about how selfishness and revenge can lead you down a dark path. It likely (and deservedly) will be a box office hit that spawns a sequel or two.