Despicable Me 2 Review

Two Minions laughing and having fun in Despicable Me 2

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Despicable Me 2

B

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Despicable Me 2 represents the best and the worst of the animated film. On the negative side it’s an unnecessary sequel, one produced because the previous film made a ton of money. Thus the film often has an empty emotional feeling to it and thus misses an emotional centre. On the positive side it’s a ton of fun. 

Despicable Me 2 manages to pack a ton of entertainment and despite its flaws manages to be a very fun, if not a little empty hour and a half of animated filmmaking.

The film picks up the story of now former super villain Gru (Steve Carell) turned legit business man in order to properly take care of his three adopted daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Kate Fisher). After a serum that transforms ordinary people and animals into dangerous killing machines has been stolen Gru is recruited to stop the villain by the anti villain league along with his newly recruited partner agent Lucy Wild (Kristen Wiig). Together they must go undercover in a shopping mall in order to find which one of the shop owners has taken the serum.

The set up is simple and nonintrusive which works both for and against the film quality wise. The simplicity of the set up on one hand provides lots of room for funny individual, at times divergent, antics to ensue within the barren structure of the film. This leads to some very funny moments (often involving the always funny minions) and just a lot of fun. Most of the jokes are intelligent enough to land with adults (including the best joke of the film, an extended joke at the end of the film which adults will get but most young children won’t) and at the same time are broad enough to land with younger children. The film has fun with the barren plot as it is able to have fun and diverge along the way.

On the other hand the film simply doesn’t have much of an emotional center. The film suffers from the fact that the first films main emotional tug, the three little girls, are put on the backburner a bit with a plot that never takes off emotionally. Thus the film feels a little empty at time, allowing for fun jokes but leaving out the strong emotions. The filmmakers do try to place an emotional subplot in the film but it’s very light and feels like a second thought. The film’s main focus is being a fun, enjoyable distraction and while that for the most part is a good thing there are times where some sort of emotional grab would have been welcome.

The voice talent here is all solid as usual. Steve Carell get’s to sport and outrageous accent again and for the most part sells Gru as the center of the film. The big new addition in the film, Kristen Wiig also does solid work as the perky yet clumsy Lucy who does provide a decent love interest. The voices of the three little girls are great as usual and the rest of the supporting cast gets the job done with a good since of efficiency. Special props go to the voices of the minions as they really do sell most of the fun throughout this film.

The animation is pretty well executed for the most part as well. The cartoony/comic book like vibe of the characters stands out for the most part and makes the animation have its own distinct ideas and flair to it. I didn’t see it in 3D but for the most part (having been able to notice the 3D spots while watching in the second dimension) I could find the ways that 3D would have been used and for the most part I was glad I watched the film in much more vibrant and colorful 2D. The score here is excellent for the most part with its solid mix of modern popular music and original, almost parody, caper music.

Overall Despicable Me 2 is a very fun diversion. The film is always fun and mostly funny throughout its short running time. Yet there is a nagging need for an emotional piece of the puzzle which doesn’t quite connect here. The film never has a deeper emotional pull that draws the viewer in to root for these characters on more than just a fun diversion style level. Ultimately it leaves Despicable Me 2 as a fun yet empty film which is honestly more than could have initially been expected from an unnecessary animated film sequel.