THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 (U)
team on the International Space Antenna.
He prides himself on remaining cool and detached under pressure – famously, Roy’s closely monitored pulse never exceeds 80bpm.
A series of devastating electrical storms, christened The Surge, results in more than 43,000 deaths.
General Rivas (John Ortiz) summons Roy to an urgent confidential meeting.
Scientists at SpaceCom have traced the source of The Surge to Neptune, close to the last known location of Roy’s father Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), who disappeared almost 30 years ago.
Roy is instructed to travel undercover to Neptune via Mars to learn if Clifford is alive and releasing anti-matter aboard his missing ship to create the electrical storms.
One of Clifford’s old comrades, Colonel Pruitt (Donald Sutherland), accompanies Roy on the perilous top-secret mission.
“We have to hold out the possibility that your father may be hiding from us,” Pruitt confides to Roy as they venture into the inky void.
Ad Astra, which translates as “to the stars”, quickens pulses with bravura action sequences including a lunar buggy chase and a memorable encounter with carnivorous gravity-defying baboons.
Pitt shines brighter than the slick special effects and his dazzling turn holds our interest when the script threatens to slip into a black hole of ponderous navel-gazing in the final third.
The clarity that Roy, and director Gray, seek remains tantalisingly out of grasp. ★★★★★
TAIL-WAGGING sequel to the award-winning 2016 computer-animated comedy. Terrier Max (voiced by Patton Oswalt) and mongrel Duke (Eric Stonestreet) are happily settled in Manhattan with owner Katie (Ellie Kemper) and her boyfriend Chuck (Pete Holmes). The couple marry and raise a baby boy, Liam, whom Max vows to protect. The family visit Chuck’s uncle, where farm dog Rooster (Harrison Ford) helps the neurotic terrier to overcome his insecurities. Back in New York, Max’s sweetheart Gidget (Jenny Slate) loses his favourite toy in a downstairs apartment. ■ Download/stream from September 23 and from DVD/Blu-ray from October 7.