Despicable Me 2: Movie Review

Despicable Me 2: Movie Review

Cast: Steve Carell, Ken Jeong, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt
Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

In 2010, a fresh piece of animation landed on our screens, mixing madness and madcap with a bit of heart - and a lot of yellow minions.

That film was Despicable Me and rightly so, it was a fun and exciting time at the cinema. It was also incredibly popular, so there's no surprise that a sequel was commissioned.

In Despicable Me 2, Steve Carell's Gru is back - this time round, he's now a doting single father to his adopted daughters, Agnes, Margo and Edith. Pursued by some of the single women in the neighbourhood, Gru's content with life.

But when Dr Nefario (Brand) quits Gru's world, saying he yearns to be bad, Gru begins to question his life. And when he's recruited into the Anti-Villains League by Agent Lucy Wilde (Wiig) to help track down an evil villain living in the mall, he thinks he's found his calling.

However, Gru's about to discover several things which will rock the foundations of his world to their very core.

Despicable Me 2 is a little bit of a disappointment, when compared to the greatness which was the first film.

It's a perfectly acceptable choice for the school holidays and the youngsters will adore its madcap antics and colourful animation, but it feels a little like it's lost some of the shine which made it so special before.

Principally, it's to do with the story, which in itself, isn't quite strong enough to sustain the interest level of the adults. While the cast are perfectly adequate, the humour and strong touch points of the first film are missing and the whole thing feels a little flat. Sequences with Gru and his mission are presented nicely, but lack the punch that's needed of such a character - Gru has more fun being bad - and in its place, there's a lot of lunacy from the minions who are rolled out to accentuate scene changes and provide comic relief (which they do in spades and are very funny for it)

There's no real emotional pull from Gru - he's more fun as a villain rather than a doting dad, who's losing the plot because his eldest adopted daughter has discovered boys. He also needs a stronger nemesis to square off against to give him some bite - and unfortunately in this one, there's nothing as strong as Jason Segel's Vector. And there's certainly no feeling that there's a real and plausible relationship between Gru and Agent Wilde - there's no moment of epiphany other than something which feels forced.

The minions though provide the lion's share of the laughter - and it's clear their spin off film is likely to be a massive success given their popularity with the younger end of the audience.

Despicable Me 2 is a perfectly fine school holiday film - its animation is lush and exciting. It's just a shame that the story doesn't follow that lead. If anything, it's more Despicable Meh.Though, I'm sure it won't stop Despicable Me 3 from happening (or should that be Despicable M3?)

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