Coming to Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow (August 27, 2019) is the hilarious sequel to the hit film, The Secret Life of Pets. The sequel is appropriately entitled The Secret Life of Pets 2.
The sequel features returning voice talents, as well as new ones, including Patton Oswalt, Keven Hart, Lake Bell, Tiffany Haddish, Nick Kroll, Dana Carvey, Ellie Kemper, and Eric Stonestreet, to name a few.
The sequel takes place a few years after the first film. Max and Duke’s owner, Katie, is now married. Her and her husband have a young son name Liam. Max wasn’t too keen about the baby at first, but grew to love the little boy, to the point where he is very over protective of him and it causes him to have an itch that Katie takes him to see the vet about.
The family take a trip to the country, where the dogs get to experience life on the farm. It’s there that they meet a dog named Rooster (voiced by Harrison Ford), who eventually teaches Max some valuable life lessons.
Back in the city, the rest of the animals are also having a bit of an adventure.
Gidget was asked to keep an eye on Max’s favorite toy. She ends up losing it when it bounces into a crazy cat lady’s apartment. She must find a way to sneak into the apartment to retrieve is, but the only way to do that is if she can pass herself off as a cat so as not to be noticed. She asks resident cat Chloe to assist here.
Crazy Snowball – the little puffy bunny voiced by Kevin Hart – is also in the city. That is where he meets a little dog named Daisy who needs his help to help rescue, of all things, a baby tiger from a circus. That is because she heard that he’s a “superhero” (he fancies himself as one).
Even though there are three different story lines going on, they all come together towards the end of the film.
Will Gidget get back Max’s toy before he returns home from the country? Will Snowball and Daisy rescue the tiger cub from the circus? And what valuable lessons did Max learn from Rooster when he was in the country with his family? To find out, you need to pick up a copy of The Secret Life of Pets 2. Look for it where ever movies are sold.
The film is also available for purchase or rental on digital download.
Here is the film’s trailer for your enjoyment. This is the theatrical trailer. The film is no longer in theaters.
I was sent a copy of the film to review, as well as some fun goodies.
I received a gift basket of goodies including a plush Duke, a soft branded blanket, craft supplies and some baking supplies. I also received a “handbook” on how to throw a The Secret Life of Pets 2 party.
First of all, my whole family was suppose to be available to watch the film. Sadly, our son had a party to go to in New York City, and our daughter had to work. So what was suppose to be “family movie night” turned out to be just me and my husband. That’s OK. We can watch the movie another time with both of my kids.
Our cats LOVE the blanket. It’s too warm to snuggle up with a blanket right now (seeing as how it’s summer), however our cats really seemed to enjoy it. So I think I might just give the blanket to the cats to snuggle on.
Our kitten, Emma, is seen above getting ready to lie down and get cozy on the branded blanket. Our other kitten, Loca (in the second photo) is enjoying the red ribbons that were used to tie up the gift basket. Cats love ribbon!
We were sent some baking supplies to make “Duke’s Doggie Donuts.” Unfortunately, we no longer have a dog. I might try and make them for our local animal shelter. I need to check with them first to see if they will accept homemade treats.
The party handbook also had recipes for “Daisey’s Crockpot Dog Food,” which looks really good (our dog would have loved it!) and “Pop’s Pupsicles.”
There is also a recipe for “Captain Snowball’s Super Salad” for rabbits. We actually fostered a rabbit several months ago.
The party planning guide also has recipes for human’s including a delicious sounding “Sweatpea’s Peaches and Burrata” that I MUST try. There is also a “Gidget’s Cool as a Cucumber Salad” which I am definitely going to make too. I love cucumber salad.
The fun book also has printables, a BINGO game you can play as you watch the film (that is a fun idea) and coloring pages. I LOVE to color, so this is great for me.
There are also some fun craft ideas that I am going to try and do with the kids that I work with in the after school program.
I think the cutest thing I received was the supplies to make little party hats for our cats. I thought at least Emma would let me put a hat on her. Ha! That was no so easy at all.
The supplies include colorful pom poms and ribbon. Pom poms and ribbon to cats are TOYS. Needless to say, trying to not only get one of the cats to wear a hat long enough to take a photo, and trying to make them, was easier said than done. I REALLY wanted to get at least one of our cats (if not more) to wear the cute party hat. They are so easy to make too. All you need is colorful paper, pom poms and ribbon. I suppose you can make them for a small dog, or maybe a wee bit bigger for a larger dog.
In the above photos I was trying to get the hat on our kitten Loca, but she was too busy trying to get the ribbon used to wrap the hat on their head.
I’m not giving up! I’m determined to get at least one of the cats to wear the party hat. If I can get our cat Bella to wear Halloween costumes, I can get one of them to wear a hat.
I even tried with Emma (below), with no luck. I’m sorry the pictures are fuzzy… she was moving too quickly, trying to get the ribbons.
As for my thoughts on the film…
I think this is an adorable and fun sequel to the original. There are three different story lines, which initially I thought was a bit odd, but I like how they all came together at the end.
You can’t help but love all the characters in this film, including secondary characters. They have such personalities, and it’s hysterical to see some of their antics on the screen.
The film makers continue with the original film as far as what pets do when their humans are not around. It’s funny to think of our pets really doing the stuff the animals do in the film.
We have always wondered what our pets did when we were not at home. That is why we have a security camera set up – so that we can see what they are doing. Of course our cats are less amusing than the ones in the film who do crazy things to pass the time while their humans are at work or away.
The animation is wonderful. It all looks so realistic. It’s also bright and colorful.
The animals are all adorable. It makes me want to go out and adopt more animals (I think we’ve hit our quota with five cats and a fish).
I think this could pass as a stand alone film, so if you didn’t see the first film, you’ll be OK seeing this film. Of course, you’d enjoy the second film a lot more if you saw the first film, but it’s OK if you didn’t.
I love this film and it’s a great addition to our family’s movie collection. I’m looking forward to watching it again with my kids. I already have the popcorn ready, as well as some cookies.
I failed to mention that there are plenty of bonus features, including two mini-movies featuring Gidget from the film, and another one featured the beloved Minions. They are both adorable and funny.
I don’t know if there is an official website for the film, but I did find a Facebook page, as well as a Twitter page and an Instagram account.
The official hashtag is #TheSecretLifeOfPets2.
Did you see The Secret Life of Pets 2? If so, what did you think about it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of this post.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy, some goodies and a gift card to buy supplies in exchange for my participation. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.