Title: Despicable Me 2
Directors: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud
Year Released: 2013
Running Time: 98 minutes
Classification: PG
Genre: Comedy, Kids and Family,
Animation, Action/Adventure
(Note: this review
contains spoilers for Despicable Me (the
prequel))
2010’s Despicable Me stands out as one of the
more original kids’ films of the last five years. In that movie, evil genius
Gru (Steve Carell) attempts to steal the moon. Because of plot reasons, Gru adopts
three little girls. Because it’s a kids’ movie, Gru relinquishes his villainous
ways to become a good father. All in all, it’s a pretty cute film, full of
laughs and “awww”.
Understandably then, you
had to wonder where they’d go with Despicable
Me 2. It necessarily lacks the villainous glee of the first movie, which is
both good and bad: good, because it means there’s character development; and
bad, because it’s not as original. In the sequel, Gru has his hands full being
a parent and intends to start a business making jams and jellies. All seems well
until he is suddenly kidnapped by Lucy (Kristen Wiig), an agent from the
Anti-Villain League. Apparently, someone has created a chemical that turns its
victims into mutant purple killing machines. The AVL “recruits” Gru in the hope
that his expertise in villainy will enable him to uncover the identity of the
villain responsible. Personally, I liked that they made Gru an “ex-villain” rather
than a sudden, all-out hero.
Like the first movie,
there are plenty of laughs to go around, whatever your age. The humour ranges
from slapstick, mostly played out by Gru’s adorable Minions, to send-ups of
stereotypes, like the improbably tough Mexican wrestler villain El Macho and
the fitness freak blonde girl with whom Gru goes on a date. I actually laughed
out loud a lot during this movie, which is more than I can say for most
comedies.
From the promotional
materials and from the moment she shows up on screen, you know that Lucy is
Gru’s designated love interest. Gru’s daughter Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) also
gets a love interest in the form of the dashing Antonio (Moisés Arias). Sadly,
the romantic plot developments in the film felt exactly like that: they were
moments I felt I had to endure in order to get to the rest of the story and
were only palatable when intertwined with comedy, like when Gru goes all
overprotective dad over Margo’s new boyfriend.
The animation is cute
and colourful and I found myself admiring Gru’s home décor more than once. The
3D is used effectively: I liked that I was able to look into the sets, rather than at them, particularly in big, busy
locations such as the mall. If you want to get the “most” out of the 3D, then
you may want to stay for the credits as you’ll get to see some Minions shoving
stuff at you through the screen.
Conceptually, Despicable Me 2 is “less” than its
predecessor: the villain protagonist angle is gone, a predictable romance plot
has been added and there’s less interaction between Gru and his kids. That
said, I think I liked this film more. While Gru’s relationship with his
daughters is more static, there are still plenty of heart-warming “family”
moments of the kind that made the first movie so memorable. There’s also a greater
sense of chaos compared to the very plot-driven prequel and I’m pretty sure
it’s funnier as well. The cute little Minions also get to play a bigger part, which,
admittedly, may or may not be a good thing, depending largely on whether you’re
a parent who’ll now have to fork out on Minion toys (now available at a store
near you).
Despicable Me 2 is a fun, funny, fluffy family movie and a pleasant
way to spend an afternoon. It’s no masterpiece of cinema, but with the current
crop of movies out right now you could easily do worse.
Alex’s Rating: 3.5/5
Title: Merlin (TV Series 2008)
