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)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States said Sunday it rescued a service member missing behind enemy lines since Iran downed a fighter jet, as President Donald Trump escalated pressure on Tehran with a new looming deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran showed no signs of backing down, striking economic and infrastructure targets in neighboring Gulf Arab countries.

The airman’s extraction followed a U.S. search-and-rescue operation after the Friday crash of the F-15E Strike Eagle, as Iran also promised a reward for anyone who turned in an “enemy pilot.” Trump said he was injured but in stable condition.

“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,” Trump wrote on social media.

A second crew member was rescued earlier.

The fighter jet was the first American aircraft to have crashed in Iranian territory since the U.S. and Israel launched the war, striking Iran on Feb. 28. The war has since killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.

Trump said last week that the U.S. had “decimated” Iran and would finish the war “very fast.” Two days later, Iran shot down two U.S. military planes, showing the ongoing perils of the bombing campaign and the ability of a degraded Iranian military to continue to hit back.

As Iran continues to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, Trump, in a weekend social media post, threatened to unleash “all Hell” if it isn’t opened by Monday. He has issued such threats before and extended them when mediators have claimed progress toward ending the war on agreeable terms.

The other jet to go down was a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it crashed was immediately known.

On Sunday, Iran’s state TV aired a video showing what it claimed were parts of American aircraft shot down by Iranian forces, along with a photo of thick, black smoke rising into the air. The broadcaster said Iran had shot down an American transport plane and two helicopters that were part of the rescue operation.

However, a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission told The Associated Press that the U.S. military blew up two transport planes due to a technical malfunction, forcing it to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert mission.

In Kuwait, an Iranian drone attack caused significant damage to two power plants and put a water desalination station out of service, according to the Ministry of Electricity. No injuries were reported from the attack, the ministry said.

In Bahrain, the national oil company said that a drone attack caused a fire at one of its storage facilities, which was extinguished. It said the damage was still being assessed and no injuries had been reported.

In the United Arab Emirates, authorities responded to multiple fires at the Borouge petrochemicals plant that they said were caused by intercepted debris. Production at the plant in Ruwais, near the UAE’s western border with Saudi Arabia, was halted.

The strike came a day after Israel struck a petrochemical plant in Iran that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said generated revenue that it had used to fund the war.

Trump renewed his threats for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz by Monday or face devastating consequences, writing Saturday in a social media post: “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”

The waterway is a critical chokepoint for global energy shipments, especially oil and gas moving from the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. Disruptions there have injected volatility into the market and pushed oil and gas-importing countries to seek alternative sources.

“The doors of hell will be opened to you” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi with the country’s joint military command said late Saturday in response to Trump’s renewed threat, state media reported. In turn, the general threatened all infrastructure used by the U.S. military in the region.

But Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told the AP that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track” after Islamabad last week said that it would soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt were working to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.

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.

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.

“Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?” Qalibaf wrote.

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 more than 1 million people have been displaced. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.

This report has been corrected to show that Borealis is an Austrian company and not Australian.

Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Members of Lebanon's General Security stand at the Masnaa border crossing in the Bekaa valley, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A man, who fled Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon with his family, sleeps in his car used as shelter, along a seaside promenade in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Followers of Iraq's Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr chant slogans as they wave national Iraqi flag during a protest against U.S. and Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A bedroom is damaged in a building struck in an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Pedetrians walk by a destroyed building within the Grand Hosseiniyeh, with the mosque visible in the background, which officials at the site say was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes Tuesday, in Zanjan, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Police officers and their horses take cover in an underground parking garage as sirens warn of an incoming missile fired from Yemen in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)

A man looks at a destroyed building within the Grand Hosseiniyeh complex that officials say was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes Tuesday in Zanjan, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)