The Secret Life of Pets 2

The Secret Life of Pets 2 is an American 3D computer animated comedy film produced by Illumination, directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Jonathan Del Val, and written by Brian Lynch. It is the sequel to The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and the second feature film in the franchise. The film features the voice talents of Patton Oswalt (replacing Louis C.K.), Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Tiffany Haddish, Lake Bell, Nick Kroll, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, and Harrison Ford.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 7, 2019, by Universal Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $51 million worldwide.

Plot
Sometime after the events of the first film, Jack Russell Terrier Max's owner, Katie, meets and marries a man named Chuck. They later have a son, Liam, who Max disapproves of at first due to his rough play. Later, after Liam showed affection and adoration to Max and Newfoundland mix Duke (Max's roommate), Max's feelings soften up to when he becomes overprotective for Liam, even over him leaving for preschool. This prompts Katie to get Max a dog cone from the veterinarian in an effort to lower Max's symptoms due to his fears. Max's luck changes when Duke reveals that the family is taking a road trip outside of the city.

When Max's family reaches a farm (it belongs to their uncle Jeff; the family is having a reunion), Max grows unaccustomed to the farm's ways, including Welsh Sheepdog Rooster. After an incident with the farm's sheep, Rooster, who apparently is the farm dog, takes Max out to find one of the missing sheep that ran away. Rooster's teaching and encouragement to Max about acting unafraid prompts Max to successfully retrieve the sheep. Rooster allows Max to stay with him overnight as a result. Before departure, Rooster also gives Max one of his bandannas as a souvenir.

Before Max had left, he had entrusted his favorite toy, Busy Bee, to Pomeranian Gidget. Unfortunately, Gidget loses Busy Bee in a cat-infested apartment with one elderly lady known as the Crazy Cat Lady. She receives cat lessons from tabby cat Chloe so she can sneak in the cat apartment easier. With the help of guinea pig Norman, she successfully retrieves Busy Bee, but because she caught a laser dot in the process (as part of her and Norman's plan), she is revered by the cats as the "queen of cats."

Meanwhile, Chloe and rabbit Snowball meet Shih Tzu Daisy, who is standing in their apartment. She explains that she needs "Captain Snowball" (Snowball's daring persona) to assist her with rescuing a White tiger named Hu. While on flight to the city, Daisy encountered him being held captive by the abusive circus owner, Sergei. Daisy and Captain Snowball sneak in and find the circus Hu is in. With much difficulty from Sergei's black wolves, they free Hu from the circus. In the heat of the chase, Daisy accidentally drops her flower clip, which the wolves use to track her down.

She and Captain Snowball take him to Basset Hound Pops' apartment. Pops reluctantly lets Hu live there at first, but due to his destruction of the apartment afterwards, Hu is kicked out and he, Daisy, and Captain Snowball hide in Max's apartment. Around then, Max's family returns from the trip; all but Max falls asleep. He finds the trio, but not after Sergei and his wolves track Daisy down. Sergei captures Hu and Daisy and goes off escaping in his train moving for the circus. Captain Snowball, Max, and Norman pursue the train while contacting Gidget for assistance in the chase. Gidget and the cats take the Crazy Cat Lady off in her car, in pursuit of the train.

Captain Snowball, Max, and Norman defeat the wolves and Sergei's pet monkey, while freeing Daisy and Hu. Max, using his newfound bravery Rooster gave him, successfully infiltrates the train locomotive Sergei is in. The rest of the animals go and kick Sergei out of the train. Gidget, having taken him out with the Crazy Cat Lady's car, offers the animals a ride back home. Life resumes normally, with Liam's family saying goodbye to Liam as he enters preschool.

In a mid-credits scene, Captain Snowball creates a rap troupe, which only lasts a few moments before his owner, Molly, enters the room and hugs Captain Snowball.

Cast

 * Patton Oswalt as Max, a Jack Russell Terrier.
 * Eric Stonestreet as Duke, a large, brown, shaggy Newfoundland mix who lives with Max.
 * Kevin Hart as Snowball, a white rabbit and former flushed pet.
 * Jenny Slate as Gidget, a white Pomeranian and Max’s girlfriend.
 * Tiffany Haddish as Daisy, a Shih Tzu.
 * Lake Bell as Chloe, a morbidly obese and apathetic grey tabby cat.
 * Nick Kroll as Sergei, an abusive circus owner.
 * Dana Carvey as Pops, an elderly Basset Hound who is paralyzed in his back legs.
 * Ellie Kemper as Katie, Max and Duke's owner, Chuck's wife and Liam's mother.
 * Chris Renaud as Norman, a guinea pig.
 * Hannibal Buress as Buddy, a laid-back dachshund.
 * Bobby Moynihan as Mel, a hyperactive pug.
 * Harrison Ford as Rooster, a Welsh Sheepdog.
 * Pete Holmes as Chuck, Katie's husband and Liam's father.
 * Tara Strong as Sweetpea, a green and yellow budgie parakeet.
 * Meredith Salenger as Crazy Cat Lady.
 * Henry Lynch as Liam, Katie and Chuck's son.
 * Garth Jennings as a hamster.

Production
On August 2, 2016, Universal Pictures and Illumination announced a sequel to the 2016 animated film The Secret Life of Pets with director Chris Renaud and writer Brian Lynch returning. Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy would produce the film. The Oatmeal writer Matthew Inman has been working on the film as a creative consultant.

In November 2017, it was announced that Louis C.K. would not be reprising his role as Max after being accused of and later admitting to sexual misconduct with five women. In April 2018, it was announced that Patton Oswalt would replace C.K. as Max while Hart, Stonestreet, Slate, Kemper, Bell, Carvey, Buress, Moynihan would reprise their roles. Additional casting includes Tiffany Haddish, Nick Kroll, Harrison Ford and Pete Holmes.

Soundtrack
Alexandre Desplat, who previously composed the score of the first film, returned for the sequel. The soundtrack was released by Back Lot Music on May 31, 2019.

Release
The Secret Life of Pets 2 was released in the United States on June 7, 2019 by Universal Pictures. It was previously set for a July 13, 2018 release, and then on July 3, 2019. The film was released in the United Kingdom two weeks earlier on May 24, 2019.

Marketing
Leading up to the movie’s release, a few character trailers have dropped, which each features Max, Chloe, Snowball, Daisy, Gidget and Rooster. On April 11, 2019 (National Pet Day), the first official full trailer dropped. The final trailer was released on May 16, 2019.

Promotional partners for the film include General Mills, Ziploc, Bounty, and McDonald's.

Box office
As of June 7, 2019, The Secret Life of Pets 2 has grossed $17.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $34.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $51.9 million, against a production budget of $80 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Secret Life of Pets 2 was released alongside Dark Phoenix, and is projected to gross around $60 million from 4,400 theaters in its opening weekend. After making $17.4 million on its first day (including $2.2 million from Thursday night previews, down from the first film's $5.3 million), estimates were lowered to $46 million.

In the United Kingdom the film debuted to $4.1 million from 613 theaters. A week later the film expanded to Russia and made a combined $17.2 million between the two countries.

Critical reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 53% based on 93 reviews with an average rating of 5.67/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Secret Life of Pets 2 doesn't teach its animated stars any new narrative tricks -- but for fans of the original, this funny, energetic sequel should still satisfy." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as the first film, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 4.5 out of 5 stars.