The Secret Life of Pets 2
Cert: G; Now showing Fluffy bunnies and cute pooches (all voiced by sassy stand-ups and familiar screen personalities) created both ecstatic reviews and a cash juggernaut in 2016 with The Secret Life of Pets. Can lightning strike twice is the big question.
Given his recent fall from grace, the voice talents of comic Louis CK have been deemed too controversial so he is replaced by Patton Oswalt as the voice of Max. He and shaggy housemate Duke (Eric Stonestreet) are adapting to change now that their owner Katie has only gone and got herself a partner and — eek — a child! A trip to the family farm sees city-slicker Max whipped into shape by a stern country dog (Harrison Ford’s first animated voiceover role), equipping him with what it takes to guard the family as he feels he should.
Back in New York, meanwhile, Snowball the bunny (Kevin Hart) now believes he is a superhero and comes to the aid of a plucky shih tzu called Daisy (Tiffany Haddish) to help rescue a smuggled tiger cub.
It all bounces and bounds about the place in a whirl of fast-talking computer animation. While there is still plenty of charm and cheek to work with, the novelty of the original film has now departed so it falls to the characters and their different plotlines to keep everything motoring. This turns out to be not quite enough, though, and the satisfying punch of the first film is indeed notable by its absence.