Pets

Posted by Navarro Hvass on June 9th, 2021

The somewhat dumb tomcat chases the smart mouse through the whole house, for seven to eight minutes the rules of gravity and other laws of nature are overridden, a virtuoso choreography of brutal meanness and astonishing tricks is staged at a crazy pace with a light heart - mockingly commented by onomatopoeic music: The anarchic energy of the classic "Tom and Jerry" cartoons now and then flashes in the animated films by Illumination Entertainment, in the "Despicable Me" adventures or at the various other appearances of the yellow " Minions' chao troop. When in Chris Renaud's animal 3D comedy "Pets" one breathless chase after another rages through New York and various interiors are destroyed, then an occasional "Tom and Jerry" feeling also arises, only that full throttle cranking comes with it short breaks for almost 90 minutes. On the one hand, this is tiring at some point, and on the other hand, it doesn't go particularly well with the more soulful aspects of the “toy story” -with-pets concept. Apart from that, however, “Pets” once again offers excellently animated and varied family entertainment. The terrier mix Max (voice in the original: Louis C.K. / German voice: Jan Josef Liefers) is completely happy with his life with Katie (Ellie Kemper / Stefanie Heinzmann) in her cozy apartment in Manhatten. Only that FMOVIES goes out of the house every morning and leaves him alone all day bothers the affectionate dog. But then the idyll is seriously disturbed: Katie takes in the huge Newfoundland dog Duke (Eric Stonestreet / Dietmar Bär). Max is extremely jealous of his new “brother” and wants to get rid of the competitor as quickly as possible. During an excursion, he senses his chance, but the two dogs end up together in the hands of animal catchers. While their disappearance is initially only noticed by the enamored Pomeranian lady Gidget (Jenny Slate / Jella Haase) from the neighborhood, Max and Duke are soon also targeted by the "Flushed Pets", an army of abandoned pets that the mad rabbit Snowball ( Kevin Hart / Fahri Yardim) is cited. Gidget organizes a rescue team and turns to the frail old Basset Pops (Dana Carvey / Dieter Hallervorden), who knows the city better than any other four-legged friend ... Like countless other films, “Pets” begins with images of New York. But the opening, which has long since become a cliché elsewhere due to the same postcard views, gets a special pep here - Chris Renaud and his colleagues use the means of the animated film to create a furious, brilliant 3D showpiece and turn the introduction of the location into a rousing virtual high-speed Flight in and through the city - even if the accompanying music with Taylor Swift's “Welcome to New York” is anything but original. “Pets” is not only a declaration of love to man's best friends, but also to the Big Apple, which is shining here in magical autumn light - the animation of the city is somewhat reminiscent of the seductive artificiality of Technicolor classics. The New York streets, roofs, parks, bodies of water and even the sewer system create attractive backdrops for the adventures of a good dozen animal protagonists, who are more funny than cute, which is typical for illumination productions. And they are extremely humanized in a very similar way to last time in Disney's “Zoomania”, only that here the usual misshapen people themselves also play a (secondary) role. When the terrier Max raves about the relationship with his owner Katie at the very beginning, he sounds like a young man who has just fallen in love and speaks of kinship and tenderness. Later on, the falcon Tiberius (Albert Brooks / Uwe Ochsenknecht) is quickly driven out of the "killer instinct" as selfish and the cat Chloé (Lake Bell / Martina Hill) leaves the bird Sweet Pea (incidentally the only non-speaking animal) alone after a learning process. The hunger of the animals for chicken, cake, sandwiches or sausages is all the greater - the latter even leads to one of the craziest sequences in the film, when little Max and the much bigger hairy Duke break into a sausage factory and mutually indulge in gluttony. At the latest in this musical stylized, almost psychedelic “All You Can Eat” dream, the competitors become buddies. The plot about friendship and solidarity is absolutely secondary, however, a scene with the two dogs in front of Duke's former home seems absolutely superfluous. The premise question “What do our pets actually do when we are not there?” Quickly leads out of the apartments and into the big city chaos, especially the many gags

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Navarro Hvass

About the Author

Navarro Hvass
Joined: June 9th, 2021
Articles Posted: 1