'The Secret Life of Pets' Is 'Solid Family Fun' With a Few Flaws

— -- Voices by Louis C.K., Ellie Kemper, Kevin Hart, Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan and Lake Bell

Rated PG

Three and a half out of five stars

From the people who brought us the “Despicable Me” franchise and “The Lorax” comes a peek into what our beloved pets do when we’re not home or we’re sleeping. Sort of.

Louis C.K. is the voice of Max, a devoted dog whose entire life revolves around his owner, Katie, voiced by Ellie Kemper. It’s a perfect existence until Katie brings home Duke (Eric Stonestreet), a big, lumbering, fluffy dog who immediately starts to bully Max.

A distraught Max turns to his dog friends for advice, including Gidget (Jenny Slate) a tiny dog that almost looks like a cat and has a terrible crush on Max. There’s also Chloe (Lake Bell), a fat cat with a hilarious fat-cat attitude, and a pug named Mel (Bobby Moynihan). Chloe and Mel serve as comic relief, and Gidget serves as Max’s love interest and, perhaps, an unlikely hero.

While out with the dog walker, Duke absconds with Max in the hopes of getting rid of him far from home. But they get lost and suddenly find themselves face to face with an army of tough stray cats. After they escape that near cat-astrophe, they encounter Snowball (Kevin Hart), an adorable but belligerent white bunny with a disdain for domesticated animals. Snowball leads the “flushed pets” — a group of angry former domesticated animals that were literally flushed down the toilet by their former owners or otherwise kicked to the curb. And they want revenge.

This is a real kid pleaser. The talking animals will stimulate the imaginations of youngsters who like to pretend their pets can talk or who like to endow their dogs and cats with human traits. What kids won’t notice is that a terrific concept gets bogged down by forced action and adventure. Max and Duke’s natural conflict didn’t need to lead to car chases, fighting and the threat of death for several characters — all of which makes “The Secret Life of Pets” more predictable and less original than its trailers suggest.

But forgive me; I’m just being critical — which is what I do. I have children, and yes, I will be taking them to see “The Secret Life of Pets,” because it’s still solid family fun with plenty of cute and intelligent jokes, as well as a few scary moments that aren’t too scary.