Illumination Entertainment has been responsible for some of the biggest animated movies of the last couple years. They started with Despicable Me back in 2010, and have since released The Lorax (2012), Despicable Me 2 (2013), and Minions (2015). All of their films have been financially successful, with varying degrees of critical and audience reception, but their new film, The Secret Life of Pets, is the studio’s first attempt at an original property since Despicable Me. A few weeks ago, Pixar was able to tell a funny and fairly emotional story with Finding Dory, and while it might be unfair to compare Illumination to Pixar, The Secret Life of Pets is nowhere near the level of most things Pixar has done.

The Secret Life of Pets tells the story of Max (voiced by Louis C.K.), who loves his owner, Kate (Ellie Kemper), very much. The two have a seemingly perfect relationship, until Kate...