General Evans Above Archive for Aug 27, 2019

The Secret Life of Pets 2 Blu-ray review

Aug 27, 2019 – permalink

In The Secret Life of Pets 2, our furry pals find themselves facing new challenges and adventures the moment we leave them to their own devices. Max and his pal, Duke, must deal with their owner’s new toddler while negotiating a vacation on a farm. Gidget must rescue a toy entrusted to her by Max from a house overrun by cats. And the over-confident rabbit, Snowball, dreams of being a superhero and tries to make those dreams a reality when he helps a Shih Tzu rescue a white tiger cub from an abusive circus owner. All of these hijinks can be yours as Universal now has them available for your home entertainment library. I was able to review the Blu-ray, DVD, digital download combo pack.

The AVC-encoded 1080p transfer is in the theatrical release’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This computer-animated film’s video transfer is gorgeous. The colour palette just pops off the screen, whether it be bold primaries or all the shades inbetween. Textures are amazing too, from the fur details on our animal friends to environmental elements from rural farm to big city. Contrast is good and the black levels nice and deep. No evidence of banding or noise. This video presentation gets an A+, a star sticker, and no final exam.

On the audio side of things, you’ll find English Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtracks as well as Spanish and French Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 tracks. Subtitles are available in English SDH, French and Spanish. The audio presentation saw how well the video side was doing and rose to the occasion. The Atmos track makes good use of the height speakers, the surround speakers put you in the middle of the madness, and the low-frequency elements, from bass music to moving cows, hits with the right power. Music is bright and dynamic, while dialogue is clear and centred.

The combo pack I reviewed also came with a DVD version of the movie as well as a Movies Anywhere digital download code. Two mini-movies, Super Gidget and Minion Scouts, are joined by an impressive array of extras, including a look at the making of the aforementioned shorts. We get deleted scenes, a look at the process of editing and voice acting, a lesson in how to draw three of the characters, a lesson in making flip book animations, the actors talking about their characters, a look at cast and crew with their pets, a choose your own adventure sort of piece featuring Snowball, a short doc on service animals, instruction on how to throw a pet party, a lesson on massaging your pet, a look at Kevin Hart trying to train a puppy, and two karaoke style videos.

With excellent video and audio presentations, a plethora of extras and a fun story for the family, you’ll want to add The Secret Life of Pets 2 to your home entertainment library.