The Secret Life of Pets 2 is funnier than the first. This review is of the 4k/bluray/digital combo. I organize my review comments by movie, extras, 4k quality, and digital copy below.
The story:
The story is told in ensemble format with 3 parallel plots that ultimately converge by the end, a much more sophisticated film structure than the first movie. The 3 plots are all hilarious and will keep children and adults amused. Additionally, there are good messages embedded for children.
Max and Duke are anxious and jealous, at first, of the new baby. But they very quickly welcome them into the family. Also, with the help of a farm dog named Rooster, Max learns how to be brave when facing new situations.
In the first movie, Snowball the bunny was crazy and evil although is redeemed by the end. In this sequel, Snowball's redemption is complete. He enjoys dressup and pretend play with his human child owner. And although he is still just as crazy as the first movie, in this sequel he focuses all of that energy on good, by dressing as a super hero to rescue a tiger cub from a cruel circus owner.
The funniest subplot in my opinion is the part focused on Gidget babysitting Max's squeeky toy, especially learning to act like a cat from Chloe so she can rescue the toy from an apartment full of cats.
All 3 plots converge by the end upon the rescue of the tiger cub.
4k disk:
The 4k disk includes the movie AND all of the
extras. This is a big improvement over the first movie that only had the extras on the regular bluray. More so than movies with live action, the 4k uhd especially enhances the visual quality.
Extras and Bonus Features:
There are a ton of bonus features such as "making of" type stuff. Among the extras are 2 mini-movies. The best of these is "super gidget". The other is a Minion mini-movie. All of the bonus features are on both the 4k disk and the regular bluray.
Digital
copy:
The digital copy is in the form of a Movies Anywhere code. I recommend redeeming that code directly on the Movies Anywhere site. Currently the digital Movies Anywhere copy will stream in 4k via any of the following apps/services linked to your Movies Anywhere account: Movies Anywhere, Vudu, FandangoNow, and Google Play Movies. As of the time of this writing, it does not stream in 4k from Prime Video. The only bonus features that are available via the digital Movies Anywhere code are the
2 mini-movies, and they only stream currently from Vudu, FandangoNow, and Google Play Movies. The mini-movies and other bonus features do not stream with the digital copy through either Prime Video or the Movies Anywhere app.
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