caustic.wit@aol.com

7/10

"Despicable Me 2," directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, continues the adventures of Gru (Steve Carell) as he is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to fight new villains. While Gru enjoys being a dad to his three adopted daughters, the neighborhood lifestyle doesn't always suit him, and he finds himself drawn back into action. The plot is engaging with a strong first act, a decent second act, and a somewhat lackluster third act and ending. The returning characters are as charming as ever, with Gru and the girls providing a familiar and enjoyable dynamic. Lucy (Kristen Wiig) is a fun addition, bringing energy and humor to the film. However, El Macho, the main villain, falls flat and is a bit boring compared to other antagonists in the series. The minions, usually a source of comic relief, are less fun in this installment as they become the antagonist’s helpers. The voice acting is a highlight, with Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig delivering standout performances. Russell Brand is consistently good as Dr. Nefario, and the voice actors for Jillian and Shannon add to the film’s charm. However, other voice actors are less memorable. Dialogue remains funny, although it lacks some of the witty banter that made the first film so enjoyable. The interactions between Gru and Lucy are particularly well-done. Pacing is a bit slow in the second act, which affects the overall flow of the story. Production values are high, with good visuals that bring the animated world to life. The theme of family remains, though it is less prominent than in the original film. Emotional impact is average, with fewer memorable moments. Overall, "Despicable Me 2" is an enjoyable sequel with good humor and heart, though it falls short of the original in several areas.

diegogomeste

5/10

I'm not expecting high art when it comes to a "Despicable Me" Movie. This isn't a Pixar, Studio Ghibli or Liaka film, it is an Illumination Movie. Just turn your brain off and have a good time. But even with that in mind, this movie fell short for me. I mean the film was nominated for 2 Oscars and made north of $900 million dollars at the worldwide box office, you think it should produce more than a "meh" from me. I watched "Despicable Me 2" with 4 kids ages 4-10. After the first 10 minutes, I didn't hear a single laugh from any of them. At the 80-minute mark I was being asked when the movie was going to end. It is a bad sign when a comedy fails to entertain its target demographic. The movie has great voice actors doing funny voices, but not saying anything all that funny. They have both Kristen Wiig and Kristen Schaal, how can those two not be funny? They just weren't given very good material to work with. On a story telling level there is a lot that doesn't add up. Plot points and timelines feel disjointed, one action does not organically lead to the next. Story beats are abandoned, and solutions are pulled out of nowhere. The film lacks a certain energy. A lot of it takes place either in the mall or at the girls' house. It just has this leisurely pace for the story beats, which soon bored the younger kids. What I think this film does well, and why people keep coming back is for the characters. I do think Gru works well off of the 3 girls, the agent and I liked the new villain more than the previous film. I also think that the soundtrack for this film is really great. At the end of the day, you can probably tell from the trailers whether this is the film for you. I think it is perfectly fine, not great but not despicable to me.

drqshadow

5/10

Picking up right where the original left off, evil genius Gru has seen the error of his ways and transitioned into life as the single, adoptive dad of three young girls. The sudden reform has left everyone (an army of minions, a long-time collaborator and Gru himself) a bit stir-crazy, so he seeks new thrills as a turncoat, tracking and identifying his former rivals for a stuffy government agency. Illumination has leveled-up their equipment since the first film, which makes for a far more polished visual product, but the story is less lively and fuzzy than its surprising predecessor. Of course the minions are everywhere, getting the star treatment before their inevitable spinoff, but the girls are relegated to watery secondary storylines and there seem to be a lot of missed opportunities. Gru's job with the g-men, for instance, seems like a ready-made setup for introducing all sorts of wacky new characters and enlarging the world, but instead it merely hones in on a single new villain and ventures no further. The introduction of a love interest is hesitant, overly convenient, and never really clicks. There's plenty of fun stuff for younger audiences, of course, and some of the sight gags are clever, but most parents will find themselves daydreaming through the bulk of this one.

Matt Golden

0/10

Three years ago, Despicable Me launched Illumination Entertainment and announced Universal Studios as a viable player in the animation game (only Disney/Pixar and DreamWorks used to show up to these box-office battles). The film wasn't even the only supervillain animation to hit the theaters that year, but it did one-up its rival Megamind both in critical acclaim and commercial success. Now, the original film's creative team returns with Despicable Me 2, continuing the adventures of former supervillain-cum-adopted father Gru, his precocious daughters Margo, Edith, and Agnes, and his little, yellow, nonsense-spouting minions. Following closely on the first film's heels (this film gratifyingly puts a premium on continuity), the now-retired Gru is settling into his new paternal role, and while the spikier parts of his personality remain, he's reshaped himself into an adoring father and potential purveyor of jams (and jellies). When an evil plot threatens the globe, however, Gru finds himself pulled back into the supervillain game by the Anti-Villain League, who've recruited him to be the hero, an ersatz spy who knows how the mystery bad guy thinks. One earnest and delightfully overbearing partner introduction later, the pair (Gru and newbie AVL agent Lucy Wilde, played by Kristen Wiig) are undercover as bakers in a strip mall where the bad guy's scheme is likely to go down. Despite the world being threatened, the stakes feel surprisingly low in the film; the archness of the plot never feels as real or immediate as the character interactions, which are enjoyable all the way through. Here, Gru realizes his loneliness, his neophyte partner realizes her true calling, and his daughters come to grips with new realizations and wishes. The characters take center stage, rarely letting the transparently-raised stakes of the plot machinations get in the way of sitcom-like character arcs such as the eldest daughter dating (and Gru's dogged insistence on undermining it) or little Agnes wanting a new mother. But that's sort of the magic of these films; despite the plot beats being the stuff of basic sitcoms, the setting and characters manage to still make the film a winning combination. Steve Carell dusts off the strange Eastern European accent he originated for Gru, and manages to be both an amusing character and his own straight man. Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher embody adorableness as the girls. But it's Wiig who steals the show as Agent Wilde, a professional woman who is also goofy and personable. Wiig and Carell have fantastic chemistry, even with just their voices in play. The minions, those little yellow blobs in overalls that accompany all of the film's publicity, are back and hilarious as ever, despite their laser-like focus on slapstick and complete lack of intelligible dialogue. The Despicable films seem to be two separate animation genres welded together: the first is a heartfelt, Pixarian meditation on the nature of family, but the second is the part with the minions, which embody the anarchic spirit of the Looney Tunes more successfully than any of their predecessors. It's a strange melange that shouldn't work, but dammit, it does, and the resulting films wound up being both moving and guffaw-inducing. The other aspect of the Despicable films that bowls me over is the virtual cinematography; truly, alongside the best of Pixar's output (like Wall-E), these are some of the most beautiful animated films ever made. The use of color, depth, and art are stunning, from Gru's Charles Addams-inspired design to the beautiful play of light, shadow, and color. This sequel follows the high standards of the first, and the result is a feast for the eyes. The bottom line is that like the first film, this one is a trifle, but a very enjoyable one. It's little more than a victory lap for Carell and company, but when there are characters you can enjoy this much, what's wrong with spending another couple of hours with them?