Movie Info
Movie Name: Despicable Me 2
Studio: Illumination Entertainment
Genre(s): Animated/Comedy/Family
Release Date(s): June 5, 2013 (Premiere)/July 3, 2013 (US)
MPAA Rating: PG
Gru will grant your wishes
Gru’s life has changed. He’s a father and trying to go straight. When he is contacted by the Anti-Villain League (AVL) to help determine who has stolen a dangerous mutagen named PX-41, Gru finds himself teamed with an agent named Lucy Wilde. Gru and Lucy move in the thief, and Gru learns that not only have his priorities changed but he could be falling in love for the first time.
Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, Despicable Me 2 was the follow-up sequel to the 2010 film Despicable Me. The movie was released to big box office returns and positive reviews from critics. The movie received Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Happy”).
Everyone’s getting CRAZY!!!
I was pleasantly surprised by Despicable Me. I enjoyed the idea of a super villain having to entertain children…which is worse than most evil plots a super villain could think up. I approached Despicable Me 2 with some excitement as a result…but also found disappointment.
I didn’t feel that Despicable Me 2 was as balanced as the first film. It by no means is a bad film and kids will enjoy it, but I thought that the story felt disjointed. What was nice about the first film is Gru’s relationship with the kids and the opening sequence with the birthday party shows that fun, but the romance between Gru and Lucy didn’t do much for me. I’ve seen that story multiple times and the more original story of Gru as a father was sidelined…also with their popularity, the Minions maybe had a bit too much face time.
Oh yeah…Minion gets some action!
Steve Carell still does a great job as Gru. His character is a like an extreme cartoon character along the lines of Boris from Rocky and Bullwinkle…which makes it all the more amusing when he’s forced to do mundane things like go to the mall. I didn’t have to even know Kristen Wiig was in Despicable Me 2 to know that she was Lucy. She’s become the go-to funny girl (either her or Melissa McCarthy), and is generally solid…I just wish there were more choices for female leads. Benjamin Bratt plays the villainous El Macho, Ken Jeong is the wig shop owner, and Steve Coogan plays the head of the AVL.
YMCA!
Visually, I still would say Despicable Me 2 does have some of the best computer animated visuals of all films. I always favor traditional art, but movies like Despicable Me 2 show how color and shading have made the format almost lifelike at points.
Despicable Me 2 loses interest with me. I found it hard to focus on it and that it just didn’t hold me like the original. The movie was followed by the spin-off Minions in 2015 which serves as a prequel to Despicable Me and a true sequel Despicable Me 3 is planned for 2017.
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