"Despicable Me 2" Ain't So Despicable

In 2010, animation studio Illumination Entertainment released their debut animated film Despicable Me. It was about a super villain named Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) who plans on stealing the moon. But as events occur he comes across three little girls named Margo, Edith, and Agnes (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher) that he had to adopt in order for his plans to succeed. But of course as time goes on he starts to enjoy having a family as his heart warmed up to the three girls. And then there is of course the introduction to those wild and crazy Minions (voiced by Pierre Coffin) that work for Gru. I saw that film in the theater and to be honest I was not expecting to go see it and my expectations were very low. But to my incredible surprise I really did enjoy the film and I was entertained by the charming and likable characters and the very funny humor. While not being a staple animation classic, it still is an entertaining family comedy that I do enjoy watching again and again. Then when I heard a sequel, Despicable Me 2, was being brought out, my reaction was the complete and total opposite of my intention of seeing the first film. Already liking the first film a lot, this time around I was REALLY hyped! I was excited to see these characters again, I was ready to laugh again, and I was ready for a brand new story featuring these characters where they will come across more new characters and new challenges, And you know what, it didn't disappoint! This time Gru, now a retired villain and a full-time working father looking after the three girls, is recruited by the Anti-Villain League stop a new and dangerous villain from hatching a diabolical plan to seize control of the world. The League teams Gru with one of their own agents, a kooky, energetic, and happy go-lucky gal named Lucy Wilde (voiced by Kristin Wiig). Gru and Lucy must find this new villain and bring him to justice and all the while discover that their relationship is probably more than professional. Despicable Me 2 certainly does not fail to bring in new likable characters, update the ones we know and love, and keep bringing the laughs.



Despicable Me 2 does great in updating its characters from before. Gru, for example, we see a very different side of him now since that he now has the responsibility of being a father and taking care of the girls. Here we see him more willing to be a good father by making sure Agnes' birthday party turns out well and even trying to protect Margo from boys. We also get to see another side of his personality that he is incredibly scared of and reluctant into dating women, because of a reason that is probably justifiable why. Plus, now that Gru is a hero, he makes a smooth transition of being a bad guy to a good guy, even though he was already pretty likable from the beginning of the first film. You do believe that he can be a hero. On top of that Steve Carell, does not fail in giving a funny, devoted, and entertaining performance. The three girls do not have much of a huge role like they did in the first film. They are not that much only in the background, not much goes on for them except the fact that they are generally supportive of Gru. There are only a couple of subplots for them that are not that focused on much. There is the youngest Agnes who longs to want to Gru to marry so that she can have a mother, and sees that Lucy would be the perfect candidate. Though it is not that detailed of a subplot and sort of brief, they do take advantage of the time they had to fully explain what Agnes is going through. Then we have Margo who falls for a boy named Antonio (voiced by Moises Arias), which of course Gru will not stand for. I really thought they were going to do something with this subplot, probably help get over Gru's fear of dating and relationships, but they made the kid so unlikable and so annoying, that the film could not help but to bring some very funny scenes including Gru hating on this kid and trying to make him and Margo be as separate as possible. Though they could have used this subplot for more detailed character development, at least they made it up with some funny scenes, as this film is meant to be a comedy first, and comedy is more about characters and situations more than really story. So I will let that pass. Dr. Nefario (voiced by Russell Brand) returns, and just to put it out there, I was NEVER a fan of Russell Brand. I think the guy is unbelievably obnoxious, whenever he opens his mouth, I get this incredible amount of rage that runs through my veins. BUT, with that said, this one and only performance that Brand has ever done as this character, is actually pretty funny. When going to see the first film, he was one of the aspects I dreaded the most, and surprisingly he was one of the elements that I enjoyed the most. His character of Dr. Nefario is still funny here. So Russell Brand, you get one. Then also there is a new character, Gru's partner and love interest Lucy Wilde. From other people's thoughts, I kind of got the feeling that this the only character that people did not like that much. Maybe its because of her energetic, awkward, and kooky white girl personality. But me personally I kind of enjoyed it. She seemed like a very fun character as well as likable. I loved how she got excited over the simplest things and she takes things with a happy-go lucky attitude, EVEN when she is in serious danger, which I think is pretty funny. I love characters that have this enjoyable positive personality and hardly sees the negativity, as long as it is not shoved down our throats like many "rebellious poetic" characters in a lot of films. Here it is done right, and Kristin Wiig seems like she had a ton of fun doing this performance. But of course there is the Minions. They return as funny as ever. Every moment they are on screen are never wasted and the writers are very creative to use whatever environment and setting that is currently taking place and create a hilarious situation featuring these yellow rascals.



I really like the animation and character design in the film. With the CG animation, you can tell that just over three years, Illumination has evolved. The the vibrant and various colors are brighter, the facial textures on the characters are lot smoother, the lighting is brighter, and it just goes to prove that CG animation will only get better and better in time. It is just lively. The humor, like I said is really funny. I would even go to say that this film is actually funnier than the first. It knows that it is a comedy and it waste no time in making the audience laugh. Every single piece of frame, no matter what the emotions or atmosphere was during a specific scene, there was always something to laugh at and the film does a terrific job of taking advantage of making every single moment, even if it was not entirely meant to be funny, seem comedic. The film just has perfect comedic timing, sharply written humor, and good old slapstick. And every joke, comedic delivery, and in-joke hit bullseye for me and made me laugh hard. 



The story is very simple. Just a basic spy film-esque catch the bad guy who is trying to take over the world scenario, with some jokes and cute moments thrown in there. But then again they film has a talent in tying in this basic story with something the film loves to focus on more, comedy and the development of Gru as a character. The main focus is the romance between Gru and Lucy, and it is a rather cute romance. I like how Lucy's outgoing and energetic personality greatly differs from Gru's insecure and strict personality, even though he is shown as a fun guy around his new daughters. The romance is simple enough to carry the weight of the rest of the film as we have a lot of funny scenes to help it through. I think that is what is special about this film and the first. All it wants to be is really funny and charming. Nothing too grand or very complex. Though I was wishing for that with this film, I still got pretty much a little above the same level as the first film, but hey I was really satisfied with this film and had a really good time watching it. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled with films like the Toy Story and Kung Fu Panda series that keep getting better with its sequels and development. But the charm, the comedy, the simple and not too complex yet still entertaining story, and likable characters is what keeps many others, including myself, coming back. And it will probably have the same effect will probably happen when the Minions themselves come out with their own spin-off film in December 2014. If you didn't despise Despicable Me, then take my word that you most definitely will not despise Despicable Me 2! 

GRADE: P+



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