THE REEL: Enjoy some family time with 'The Secret Life of Pets 2'

Auntie duties and a promise to my niece for her birthday treat found me watching "The Secret Life of Pets 2" at the Prestige Cinema.

This is a wonderful animation story that imagines the lives of pets and the adventures that they get up to out of the sight of their owners.

Starring the voice talents of Kevin Hart (Snowball), Patton Oswalt (Max), Harrison Ford (Rooster), Eric Stonestreet (Duke), Jenny Slate (Gidget) and Tiffany Haddish (Daisy) amongst others, it is a load of laughs as the pets get into a lot of trouble right under the nose of their owners.

"The Secret Life of Pets 2" is a 1hr 26min animation, adventure, comedy film and it is rated GE for general viewing by the whole family.

Max has to cope with major changes to his life when his pet owner Katie gets married and has a child. He also has to deal with his fears when the family takes a trip to the countryside and he meets a farm dog (Rooster) who assists him on it.

Gidget has adventures of her own as she tries to rescue Max’s favourite toy from an apartment that is filled with cats whilst the ever crazy energy filled Snowball has to free a white tiger that is being mistreated at the circus.

UNIQUE STORYLINE

It is a movie that one can follow without having to watch the first instalment as it has new and unique storylines that centre around the main character, Max and his interactions with other pets.

Animation has come a very long way from the early days of pencil drawings and the genre brings in millions for the industry. Children as an audience are very loyal to stories and once they like a movie, you can be sure of its continued box office success.

In "The Secret Life of Pets 2" as in the first movie, the movie can also be enjoyed by adults as some of the jokes reference some adult themes making it an experience that the whole family can enjoy.

The movie is set in an apartment building in New York which is interesting because as we all know, different apartment owners have different personalities and the pets echo this too.

It is hilarious to see how cats which are known to be anti-social and very snobbish interact with dogs which are friendly and very people oriented.

A fun fact is that the name of the rabbit, Snowball is also the same name used by George Orwell in the Animal Farm for one of the two pigs that led the overthrow of the humans.

EDUCATIVE AND ENTERTAINING

The beauty of animation is the ability for the movie to combine both educational and entertainment themes.

Children are able to grasp simple messages and to understand complex teachings in a comfortable way that is broken down to their level of comprehension.

A lot of actors and actresses look forward to lending their voice talents in creating animation movies. It taps into their inner child and they always have a fun time recording their scenes judging from the behind the scenes videos that are shared online.

It takes hours and hours of recording as the actors have to get the scenes right and convey the correct emotion. It’s also another way to build an actor’s creative talents and their work portfolio.

Having a pet is a fulltime responsibility and one cannot just adopt one based on a whim. They need affection, periodic vet visits and outdoor exercise very often.

It is no secret that most of the popular YouTube videos involve pets doing a host of interesting and hilarious stunts to the chagrin of their owners.

Having watched "The Secret Life of Pets", I was expecting the second installation to be funnier, but this one didn’t pack quite as many laughs as the first one, even with the addition of renowned comedian Tiffany Haddish.

My niece still enjoyed the movie and I gained many auntie bonus points.