Despicable Me 2

 

A couple weeks ago, I reviewed Monsters University, and summed up my thoughts by saying that if you enjoyed the first movie, you'll find something to like in the new one.  The exact same thing could be said about Despicable Me 2.  This is not a better or worse movie than the 2010 animated hit.  It gives us more of everything that worked with the first film, throws in a couple good laughs, and then sends us on our way after a very breezy 100 minutes.

One of the interesting aspects of the original was that its hero, Gru, was a James Bond-style villain bent on global crime.  Yeah, he eventually softened up a little after he fell in love with the three little girls that he adopted in order to pull off his latest caper, but he hadn't really changed all that much by the time the credits rolled.  I got the sense that he was still somewhat evil, he'd just found people to live for.  With an unidentifiable accent provided by Steve Carell, and a physical appearance that makes him look like the lost twin of Uncle Fester from The Addams Family, Gru is certainly one of the more interesting animated characters in recent memory.  For the sequel, the filmmakers must perform a difficult balancing act with the character.  We learn early on that he's no longer a villain, and is in fact trying to start up a legitimate business selling jams and jellies.  He's also more concentrated on being a good single dad to his girls.  Despite these changes, he still feels like the same guy we met last time.  His attitude may have softened, but he can still be a jerk when he wants to be.  He also still carries that Freeze Ray gun around with him, out of habit, I assume.

Early on, Gru is called back into action when he is abducted by a secret organization known as the Anti Villain League.  A new villain is causing global chaos, and the League needs Gru's expertise as a former bad guy to help stop him and learn the mysterious criminal's identity.  It seems that the villain's plan has something to do with a toxic substance that, if ingested, causes a person or animal to turn into a purple, mindless eating and killing machine that kind of looks like a cross between the Tazmanian Devil from the Looney Tunes shorts, and the creatures from the Gremlins movies.  The Anti Villain League has found traces of this substance at the local mall, and so they send Gru undercover, disguised as a guy who runs a cupcake shop.  He's joined in his mission by secret agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), who eventually turns into a possible love interest, as Gru's three girls Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Edith Fisher) have been wishing for a mom of their own recently.

The plot is pretty thin stuff, but for an animated film, it works well enough.  The filmmakers seem to have realized this, so they give us a bunch of subplots, such as Margo developing her first crush on a boy, and Gru's ever loyal yellow Minions (who still look like animated corn kernels with eyes) mysteriously vanishing.  Just like Monsters University, the strength of Despicable Me 2 is not in its storytelling, but rather its characters, the lively animation, and the voice acting.  The movie is probably wise to play it safe, and give us more of what worked the first time around, without messing with the formula too much.  The characters are as odd and as likable as ever, there's still a lot of warmth provided by the relationship between Gru and his three adopted daughters, and there's still some adult humor bound to fly over the heads of kids in the audience, as well as some wild visual gags.  One particular gag, involving a shark and a volcano, had me laughing quite hard.  I'll leave it to you to discover the connection.

I also enjoyed the addition of Lucy, voiced by Kristen Wiig (who was also in the last movie, but is playing a different character here).  Despite being a top-level secret agent, she's a bit of a clutz, yet determined to always help out.  She's a likable character, and Wiig's performance gives her a somewhat spacy but very funny vibe.  None of the other new characters introduced in this film work quite as well as she does.  But then, the movie doesn't spend as much time with them.  This is probably a result of the movie being a bit too overloaded with subplots.  This leaves some characters feeling underwritten.  The memorable Dr. Nefario from the last film (once again voiced by Russell Brand) is basically making a cameo here.  And when the true identity of the villain is revealed, not only is it not a surprise, but his motives and ultimate goal are somewhat sketchy.

 

Still, it's easy to look beyond all this, since the movie is just so likable.  Despicable Me 2, perhaps more so than Monsters University, is bound to be a big draw for kids.  It will be interesting to see which of the animated films ends up on top of the box office this summer.  My money's on this one, as it's a little fresher and funnier than Pixar's.  Either way, there are two very enjoyable animated films out there right now, so both kids and parents end up winning in the end.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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