This Week's Review: The Secret Lives of Pets and Finding Dory.

I gorged on animate films on July 9 and my glucose levels are still in the stratosphere.  I knew, well in advance, that any animated film these days will suffer from terminal cuteness; The Secret Lives of Pets and Finding Dory are both interesting, but a double-header might not be the best of ideas.

The trailers for Pets contain most of the funny scenes, but they do not really mention the main plot of pets lost in a large city.  That plot is not original, but the nonstop slapstick mayhem is very amusing.  What is not amusing is the violent premise of the plot:  pets that have been “flushed away” by their owners want violent revenge; i.e., death.  Kevin Hart is very effective as a murderous bunny who dreams of exterminating the human race.

At least one human dies off-screen and there are fatalities among the revenge-seeking pets; the on-screen crushing of a snake raises several questions in my mind.  The film is clever, but I am not sure this is appropriate fare for the grandchildren.

 

 

Finding Dory has to be one of the best Pixar films yet.  The animation is superb, particularly in 3-D.  This sequel to Finding Nemo is well done although it is a bit too long.  The plot involves a young fish who suffers from short-term memory loss and who manages to lose her family.  The plot is, otherwise, a rehashing of Finding Nemo without the sharks.  This film is very grandchild-friendly.  Be warned: a certain red octopus will probably be a very popular stocking stuffer this Christmas.

I still have not seen Big Friendly Giant and I am not sure that I need to.