Film Preview: The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Page Revisions:

(January 17, 2016) Original
(January 31, 2016) New Trailer (#4) / New Poster (#2)
(April 17, 2016) New Trailer (#5) / New Posters (#3-#11)

Release Date:

July 8, 2016

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Taking place in a Manhattan apartment building, Max’s life as a favorite pet is turned upside down, when his owner brings home a sloppy mongrel named Duke. They have to put their quarrels behind when they find out that an adorable white bunny named Snowball is building an army of abandoned pets determined to take revenge on all happy-owned pets and their owners.”

Poster Rating: C+ / B / C+ (9)

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) This little pup, like the rest of us, is waiting for something more substantive to come out.

(#2) That big, scary city is on display and our pets are looking to conquer it, at least that’s what this poster suggests. Perhaps it means that they are wanting to conquer us rather than their antagonists, which is something they really didn’t need to do all things considered.

(#3-#11) I suppose it makes comedic sense to take the pets and put them on the pet shaming route with humorous signs. While this works to ramp up the cute elements of the production, the bland background doesn’t do the designs any favors.

Trailer Rating: A- / B / C / B / B+

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Review: (#1) This completely hilarious teaser trailer has been playing in cinemas for awhile now. It’s quite enjoyable, which makes the audience immediately desirous to see the film.

(#2) Then the second trailer comes out and, while it’s a cute Christmas-themed segment, it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the film itself, which makes it seem fun and funny at times, but also misleading.

(#3) Then this trailer arrives and sets up the film as something more than just a string of funny pet-related segments. There’s something darker and more sinister at work and it doesn’t seem that funny. It also doesn’t seem that interesting compared to what we had been prepped for to this point.

(#4) The third trailer gave us a bit of the plot and made this seem like a colossal waste of time. Now that we have a few more details, it seems a lot more interesting. The corny humor isn’t as evident and the Homeward Bound-type journey should be just enough to draw audiences to the theater.

(#5) The plot elements of the last few trailers haven’t been that inspiring, but this trailer gives us a glimpse into an entirely different film that looks more inventive rather than a bad copy of many other pet-related film premises.