Despicable Me 2 2013

While Gru the exsupervillain is adjusting to family life and an attempted honest living in the jam business a secret Arctic laboratory is stolen. The AntiVillain League decides it needs an insiders help and recruits Gru in the investigation. Together with the eccentric AVL agent Lucy Wilde Gru concludes that his prime suspect is the presumed dead supervillain El Macho whose his teenage son is also making the moves on his eldest daughter Margo. Seemingly blinded by his overprotectiveness of his children and his growing mutual attraction to Lucy Gru seems on the wrong track even as his minions are being quietly kidnapped en masse for some malevolent purpose.

Review

The first Despicable Me was a wonderful film so while there is the worry of whether a sequel would work you can't help wanting to see it anyway. Despicable Me 2 was just as good as the first one maybe not as fresh in terms of plot but what worked so well in the first works equally well here. The animation also having the advantage of staying true to the style and look that the first had is bursting with vibrancy and colour without looking too oversaturated as well as having a lot of detail to it. The retrofuturistic designs and gadgets are inventive and very striking to look at while the music has rousing energy and is also memorable. Despicable Me 2 in the writing and gags is peppered with humour and this is of the laughoutloud hilarious kind though because there's a lot and that you may be laughing so hard you may be at a risk of missing something. To counterbalance the hilarity the film also incorporates a message it is a heartfelt one and doesn't feel cloying and outofplace. For what the story may lack slightly in freshness in correlation with the first it more than makes up for it in wit heart excitement and how briskly it moves without feeling rushed. Having more of the minions one of the best assets of the first film was a masterstroke also and their subplot also gave the story an increasing sense of jeopardy and threat(though theirs is a little more interesting than that of world domination). Gru is a lovable character whether a villain like in the first or not and adds a lot of charisma and energy to the film. The topnotch vocal talents of Steve Carrell Steve Coogan Kristen Wiig Benjamin Bratt and even Russell Brand are a further advantage. All in all like the first Despicable Me this sequel is fantastic family fun and equal to it. 910 Bethany Cox