Review: 'The Secret Life of Pets 2' is a well-crafted sequel

If the sweet, animated 2016 film "The Secret Life of Pets" was mostly for kids, its new sequel might be for another segment of the audience altogether — whoever is buying the tickets. Amid the cute critter shenanigans, this one has plenty of lessons for the parents.

Most of the same gang is back this time: Kevin Hart as the fluffy white bunny Snowball, Eric Stonestreet as the goofy giant Newfoundland, Lake Bell as the laconic cat Chloe and Jenny Slate as the plucky Pomeranian Gidget. This time, though, our main hero terrier Max is voiced by Patton Oswalt, replacing the disgraced Louis CK.

Both films in the franchise deal with a new addition to the family. In the first, it was a new dog that allowed the filmmakers to explore sibling rivalry. This time, the stranger is a baby, who Max learns to love unconditionally but which also ups his anxiety levels. (Any helicoptering parent out there knows what we mean.)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows, from left, Duke, voiced by Eric Stonestreet, Liam, voiced by Henry Lynch and Max, voiced by Patton Oswalt in a scene from "The Secret Life of Pets 2." (Illumination EntertainmentUniversal Pictures via AP)

Returning screenwriter Brian Lynch and returning director Chris Renaud, who also voices the guinea pig Norman, have actually concocted three interlocking plots in "The Secret Life of Pets 2 ." It's a wise decision since none are deep enough to carry the film alone, forcing some convoluted stitching together. But they manage it, creating a solid piece of entertainment for all ages, if not a terribly revelatory one.

In one story, Max finds himself ever fearful for her owner's new toddler, stressing out as the boy's protector. "Was the world always this dangerous?" he asks after a harrowing New York City stroll. He even develops a nervous scratching tick that requires a mortifying dog cone. A trip to a farm in the country seems to offer a respite. Getting his head right is his quest.

Before he leaves, he asks Gidget to take care of his favorite squeaky toy. She promptly loses it in a cat lady's apartment filled with crazed felines. Getting it back is her comedic quest. Meanwhile, Snowball is asked by a brave Shih Tzu (newcomer Tiffany Haddish) to rescue a tiger cub held by a malevolent circus boss. His quest is, like the others ones, to find his inner superhero.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows, from left, Snowball, voiced by Kevin Hart, Daisy, voiced by Tiffany Haddish and Pops, voiced by Dana Carvey in a scene from "The Secret Life of Pets 2." (Illumination EntertainmentUniversal Pictures via AP)

Oswalt is a fine replacement for Max, able to connect with the character's timidity, wonder and blossoming courage. He is helped by a gruff farm dog voiced by Harrison Ford, who unfortunately muddies his first animated voice role with some hyper-masculinity.

Ford's alpha dog is pure action cool, ripping off Max's cone in disgust (not the best message for kids in treatment), rejecting Max's embarrassed neurosis and being the cold, silent type. "The first step in not being afraid, is acting like you're not afraid," he advises.

Ford gets to play with his own he-man screen persona, but we're not sure this John Wayne bit — or the whole dynamic of pampered city folks versus tough country folks — is what we need right now. Another drawback is the scary elements: fearful wolves and an awful villain with a whip and a cattle prod.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Little Sergei, left, and Snowball, voiced by Kevin Hart in a scene from "The Secret Life of Pets 2." (Illumination EntertainmentUniversal Pictures via AP)

Even so, the majority of the film is carefully constructed, switching from plot to plot to plot while also incorporating old characters — Dana Carvey's elderly Basset hound and Hannibal Buress as dachshund Buddy — in an increasingly complex patchwork, fed by a lively soundtrack that includes Stevie Wonder, Jefferson Airplane, Coolio and ZZ Top.

As signs of how well engineered this movie is, a cover of Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" is used at the end, a callback to the original song's appearance in the first film. It also opens with "Empire State of Mind," an echo of how the first one opened with Taylor Swift's "Welcome to New York."

There are some nifty touches, including a dream sequence in which Snowball fantasizes about being a caped crusader, which creates a comic book sequence INSIDE an animated film. Bell pretty much steals the movie when her cat gets high on catnip and later teaches Gidget the "way of the cat" — complete with mandatory walking on a laptop keyboard and batting mugs off tables. All this with extraordinary animated effects. You will marvel at how real the illustrators have made this world, from rocky cliffs to speeding cars and dazzling eyes. In a neat twist, too, the cat lady becomes the butt of jokes but also this — a heroine.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Snowball, voiced by Kevin Hart, left, and Daisy, voiced by Tiffany Haddish in a scene from "The Secret Life of Pets 2." (Illumination EntertainmentUniversal Pictures via AP)

It all builds to a climax where all three plots converge, some stretched uncomfortably. Max is clearly the emotional center of the film but Snowball's journey is just weird, starting as a bunny who plays a dress-up superhero, morphing into a real superhero who is revealed to be anything but, before proving he IS a superhero, kind of. (Stick around at the end credits for a clip of Hart as a gangsta Snowball rapping "Panda" by Desiigner.)

If the knock on "The Secret Life of Pets" was that it was a rip-off of "Toy Story," then the second film better grounds itself in its own universe. Like its main three characters, it has learned to be comfortable in its own animated skin.

"The Secret Life of Pets 2," a Universal Pictures release, is rated PG for "some action and rude humor." Running time: 86 minutes. Three stars out of four.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Liam, voiced by Henry Lynch, from left, Max, voiced by Patton Oswalt, Duke, voiced by Eric Stonestreet in a scene from "The Secret Life of Pets 2." (Illumination EntertainmentUniversal Pictures via AP)

MPAA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Max, voiced by Patton Oswalt, from left, Duke, voiced by Eric Stonestreet and Liam, voiced by Henry Lynch in a scene from "The Secret Life of Pets 2." (Illumination EntertainmentUniversal Pictures via AP)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The U.S. military pressed ahead Saturday in a frantic search for a missing pilot over a remote area in Iran, a day after the Islamic Republic shot down a U.S. warplane and promised a reward for whoever turns in the pilot.

The plane, identified by Iran as a F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked Friday, with one service member rescued. It was the first time the United States lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the war, now in its sixth week, and could add pressure on the Trump administration to end the fighting.

The war, which began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28, has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. It shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds to airstrikes with attacks across the region.

The downing of the American planes came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a national address that the United States has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.” The U.S. and Israel had boasted that Iran’s air defenses were obliterated.

But on Saturday, an apparent Iranian drone damaged the headquarters of U.S. technology company Oracle in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets and infrastructure in the war.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that an airstrike hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. It's the fourth time the facility has been targeted. The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said that 198 workers were being evacuated.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that they “have never refused to go to Islamabad.” Last week, Pakistan said that it would soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told The Associated Press that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track.”

Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are working to bring the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table in Pakistan, according to two regional officials. They said that they were working on a compromise to bridge the gap between the two sides' demands to stop the war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow a diplomatic settlement, according to a regional official involved in the efforts and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to take up the matter of reopening the strait on Saturday. And Trump reminded Iran of his Monday deadline to open the strait or make a deal, warning on his social media platform, Truth Social, of “48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”

The search for the U.S. pilot focused on a mountainous region in Iran’s southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released information, but in an email from the Pentagon, obtained by the AP, the military said that it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East, without further details.

A U.S. crew member was rescued. But the Pentagon notified the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member wasn't known.

In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump said that what happened wouldn't affect negotiations with Iran.

Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by its defense forces. A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation said that it wasn't clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down. The crew's status was not immediately known.

An anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police, a first in the war. Iran previously made claims about shooting down piloted aircraft that turned out not to be true.

An apparent Iranian drone damaged the Dubai headquarters of Oracle after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened the firm. Footage verified by the AP outside the United Arab Emirates showed a large hole in the building's southwestern corner.

The sheikhdom’s Dubai Media Office, which speaks for its government, noted a “minor incident caused by debris from an aerial interception that fell on the facade," saying there were no injuries.

Oracle Corp., based in Austin, Texas, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Guard has accused some of the largest U.S. tech companies of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations against the Islamic Republic and called them legitimate targets. Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE and Bahrain were hit in earlier drone strikes.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic through a second strategic waterway in the region, the Bab-el-Mandeb.

The strait, 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it.

“What share of global oil, LNG, wheat, rice, and fertilizer shipments transits the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait?” Qalibaf wrote, referring to liquefied natural gas. “Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?”

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed and there have been more than 1 million displaced people. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.

Jon Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Magdy from Cairo. Munir Ahmed in Islamabad,; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; and Konstantin Toropin, Seung Min Kim, Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington, contributed to this report.

Travelers arrive to cross into Turkey at the Razi border crossing, in Razi, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Israeli security forces inspect damage at an apartment building struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)

A photographer takes pictures of damage at Shahid Beheshti University after U.S.-Israeli airstrikes Friday in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Travelers approach on foot the border crossing with Turkey at the Razi crossing in Razi, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A row of chairs is seen through a hole left by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes Friday at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Iraqi women hold a portrait of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, during a protest against U.S. and Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, in the Shi'ite district of Kazimiyah in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A woman checks a destroyed house that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Saksakiyeh village, south Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)