Review of Despicable Me 2 (2013) by H L — 30 Jul 2014

I'm certainly late to the Despicable Me bandwagon. Hell, I haven't even seen the first one, and if a friend hadn't given me a copy of this sequel, it probably would have been years before I watched either of them.

In its relatively short time as a franchise, it seems these films have made a hell of an impact as far as family films go, perhaps even pop culture. I've heard plenty of children and even adults cheerfully quoting lines from both films, and especially sounds made by the minions when they pretend to be firemen in this film. I've even met people who say that the first or second films are among not only their favorite comedies or animated films, but favorite films in general.

After hearing all these things and admittedly being endlessly barraged by the franchise's pop culture impact, I finally watched this film out of curiosity. Is it the greatest film, greatest animated film, or even greatest comedy? Hell no, not even close in any of those categories. But, did I still enjoy it? Yes, I did. Though I prefer animated films that are more adult-themed or darker, though I prefer more old-timey, inappropriate, or dramatic comedies, and though I generally enjoy much more serious films as far my favorite films are concerned, I still had a lot of fun watching this light-hearted animated film.

Instead of villainous shenanigans, Gru now just has his minions make terrible-tasting jams and jellies, while raising three girls: Margo, Jillian, and Agnes to the best of his ability as a single parent, though his daughters want him to start dating.

Gru's life become strange however, when an agent named Lucy Wilde from the Anti-Villain League (AVL) kidnaps him and brings him to the AVL's leader, Silas Ramsbottom to be recruited for an assignment to recover a mutagen called PX-41, which was stolen from an Arctic facility by a strange craft with a giant magnet.

It is believed that one of the shopkeepers in a mall possesses the substance, so Gru (After some deliberation about whether or not to accept the assignment) gets teamed up with Lucy to figure out who stole the PX-41 and what their plans are. Meanwhile, Gru's minions begin disappearing for some reason in the midst of investigating a man named Eduardo Perez, whom Gru suspects is really a supervillain named El Macho.

As they investigate, minions disappear, and many shenanigans happen, Gru begins to grow attached to his partner, while also watching as his daughters grow older and pursue their own goals, including his daughter Margo, who becomes interested in boys, much to his dismay.

The plot is definitely silly and over the top as expected for this sort of film, but even then, sometimes the plot is too unfocused and scattershot for its own good. Sometimes the erratic nature of the story could get on my nerves, but thankfully, it rarely did as the plot has just enough ridiculous and stupidly funny moments to keep things lively and fun. However, more structure would have been nice.

The acting is pretty solid, especially from Steve Carrell as Gru and Kristen Wiig as Lucy, whose performances I really enjoyed because they threw themselves completely into their wacky roles. The minion voices by the directors of the film are amusing, as they should be.

As far as humor goes, Despicable Me 2 is pretty funny most of the time, though the jokes could be scattershot like the plot. The humor is intent on being as ridiculous and over the top as it possibly can be, but it rarely ends up being annoying. It's charming in its lunacy and I was laughing most of the time, as a comedy should make me do.

Despicable Me 2 is no masterwork and will never be among the all-time greats for films in general, animated films, or comedies that I have enjoyed over the years, but it's a cute, funny, wacky, and entertaining film even for someone like me who prefers their films more darkly-themed or adult-themed. It's a charming, light-hearted film that will definitely win over kids and adults who aren't too stuck up.