Despicable Me 2 (2013)

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While 'Despicable Me 2' manages to bring back the charm of the first movie, at the end of the day, it still manages to be an overall predictable love story that uses the Minions to its advantage quite a bit more, now that they've been found to be a success. Having said that, these are family movies about a growing family, and if the first movie involves Gru adopting the girls, the next logical step might be to have Gru fall in love, and provide the girls with a mother figure. So while it's predictable, it's still perfectly fine, and I don't hold that against it.

All things considered, at the time, I still came out of this movie with a smile on my face, as the film provides a good balance of humour and heart. Ultimately, the word I'd use to describe all of these movies is "cute," and while this chapter is no exception, it's still not as good as the first, in my opinion. Aside from perhaps a bit of predictability, as I've already mentioned, I feel like this fails to have the darker tone to it that the first one does, where the cuteness balances things out. This is kinda just straight-up "cute."

As we pick things up, it's Agnes' (Elsie Fisher) 6th birthday, and Gru (Steve Carell) hosts a princess-themed party for her, hosting several of her friends, along with sisters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) and Edith (Dana Gaier). All in all, life has gotten good for Gru, as he now fathers and loves his three girls, and he's gotten into making jelly with Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), who is okay with what they're doing, but really ends up missing being a villain with dastardly plans, complete with the darker lifestyle that comes with the territory.

One day, Gru is captured by AVL (Anti-Villain League) agent, Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), and brought to the head of the AVL, Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan). Ramsbottom (heheheh, "bottom") informs him that a potent mutagen, PX-41, has been stolen from a lab in the Arctic Circle, and his help is needed to try to retrieve it. Hesitant at first, with more responsibilities as a father, Gru eventually agrees to the task when he learns about Nefario's plans to leave and work for a villain again.

Gru teams up with Lucy in an effort to close this case, and as any 'Despicable Me' fan knows by this point in the game, this is the movie in which the pair eventually fall in love, and the girls get a mother figure in their lives. In the meantime, the culprit here (and villain of this chapter), El Macho (Benjamin Bratt) who stole the PX-41 ends up using it to build himself an army to take over the world, using Gru's minions for the process to some pretty damn funny results, and this time, Gru and the family have to try to rescue them.

Looking at the film critically, this is another one where I feel like anything I'd be complaining about it far too nitpicky for it to matter. After all, this was a movie made with kids in mind, which is another reason I can't get mad at the Minions (they annoy so many people). I'd have been into them as a kid, if only for their gibberish speaking and slapstick humour. Again, I get where critics come from, but hell, Minions are innocent fun, and when I was a kid, 'Ninja Turtles' were on EVERYTHING! It just goes to show that things don't change much over time.

I think 'Despicable Me 2' is good for what it is, and a worthy sequel to the original, even though it can't quite live up to its charm. Really, at this point, this just ends up being the backstory to how Gru met Lucy. It's padded with some decent humour from both the Minions and the girls (namely Agnes), which makes it fun, but one can almost see those Minions teetering here, and soon splitting audiences. Altogether, though, the movie is fine, and I have no real complaints. Another cute, but predictable, chapter in a cute series.

3/5

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