Now firmly settled as a daddy to Margo, Edith and Agnes, Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) has retired from the super-villain business. But, one day, Gru is approached by the Anti-Villain League, an international alliance of secret agents dedicated to hunting down bad guys. His task is to help the League specifically the feisty Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) ferret out a mysterious antagonist doing business at a local mall. A secret undercover mission isn`t all that`s on Gru`s plate though: he also has to grapple with disappearing minions, his little girls growing up, and his feelings towards the relentlessly perky Lucy.
Summarised thusly, Despicable Me 2 sounds like little more than a cheap cash-in a poorly thought-through attempt to rush a second movie into cinemas for pure financial gain. Certainly, more cynical viewers might view Despicable Me 2 for what it arguably is: a feature-length trailer for the 2014 movie that will exclusively star the minions and is already in the works.
But that would be too churlish a view of a film that practically sings with wild, joyous imagination. Despicable Me 2 fizzes over with excellent sight gags, surreal humour and puns aplenty, taking in volcanoes, poultry and marine life along the way to ridiculously sublime effect. With the adorable minions reliably chattering their nonsensical way through the film, there`s much here to keep little tykes happy. But adults will be thoroughly entertained as well. Gru`s emotional journey actually feels stronger and more organic than you`d expect from a sequel, almost as if directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud had planned it this way all along.
Summarised thusly, Despicable Me 2 sounds like little more than a cheap cash-in a poorly thought-through attempt to rush a second movie into cinemas for pure financial gain. Certainly, more cynical viewers might view Despicable Me 2 for what it arguably is: a feature-length trailer for the 2014 movie that will exclusively star the minions and is already in the works.
But that would be too churlish a view of a film that practically sings with wild, joyous imagination. Despicable Me 2 fizzes over with excellent sight gags, surreal humour and puns aplenty, taking in volcanoes, poultry and marine life along the way to ridiculously sublime effect. With the adorable minions reliably chattering their nonsensical way through the film, there`s much here to keep little tykes happy. But adults will be thoroughly entertained as well. Gru`s emotional journey actually feels stronger and more organic than you`d expect from a sequel, almost as if directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud had planned it this way all along.
What set Despicable Me apart from most other animated movies was its willingness to focus on an deeply unsympathetic main character. Now that Gru has been so effectively humanised, a very real danger with any sequel is that it might fall into sentimental, domesticated predictability. Fortunately, Despicable Me 2 retains the same kooky, oddball charm of the first film, and adds to it another huge helping of heart and warmth. Now this is how sequels should be made.
Summary: A fantastic sequel and a great animated movie that truly deserves to take over the world.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Shawne Wang