ironhorse_iv Review of Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2 (2013)

It's despicable if you haven't saw Despicable Me 2 yet. It's awesome fun!

[7/10 · 9 July 2013]

2010's Despicable Me was a huge hit that year, that from its success, a sequel was pretty much inevitable. Despicable Me 2 is truly just a fun movie to watch at the theater with your children or by yourself. The animation from Illumination Entertainment was pretty good, but I have to say that the movie trailers and promos will ruin it for you. I felt like I've already watched more than half of the movie in Youtube promos. So don't watch them. I do have to say that the sequel's story seem to be domination by the side characters Minions. I know that they will end up making a Minion movie for sure because they are just so damn adorable, but I thought they could have cut a little bit of them in the film to make more room for the love story. This is a 'Despicable Me' movie, not the Minions movie. While they may be a good marketing ploy, I really can't stand their chipmunk like noises after so long. Anyways, Despicable Me 2, has former super-villain Gru (Steve Carrel) being recruited with Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a powerful new super criminal who stolen a secret formula that cause a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde reaction to whomever drinks from it. It was a cute little family movie, but nothing really new in my opinion. It's a bit clunky as the story of this movie isn't as strong to begin with. It felt like the love story was force too hard. One minute, he doesn't like Lucy, and then he does after she save him from a horrible date. It was painfully obvious right from the start who Gru would end up dating. The whole movie felt like the same old movie formula of a single father cliché storyline. Lucy can be a bit annoying, as Kristen Wiig acts like a spazz most of the film. Wiig also played Miss Hattie in the first film by the way. There is also a subplot of Gru's daughter Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) falling for his enemy's son. While, it could have work as a Romeo & Juliet type of sub-plot; the movie went a different way, and it was quickly resolve by the end of the film. Benjamin Bratt was brought in as a last minute replacement for Javier Bardem and Al Pacino as the movie's antagonist, El Macho. Al Pacino left the film due to creative differences. In my opinion, Benjamin Bratt does well. It must been hard for him, since he was brought in at such a late stage of animation. Due to the finished animation, Bratt had to match his timing exactly to the character's mouth movement. I love that El Macho has a crazy pet chicken. He wasn't annoying like Vector was from the last movie. Back story of the villain El Macho, the most manly villain ever, was just funny as hell. Is the Hispanic stereotype jokes, a bit racist? Maybe, but it's all for fun. The ending fight with the villain was a bit disappointing as the secret formula that supposed to transform living things into indestructible killing machines was quickly end within a minute of fighting through nothing more than electricity. It was previous establish earlier in the film, that electricity doesn't stop them, so why did it work now? There is a lot of slapstick humor that the children will love, and some adult might enjoy. I do have to say to make sure to watch the 2010's short films such as Home Makeover, Orientation Day, and Banana as there is a number of running gags from those films in this film. There is a lot of adult jokes that the children will never get like the Minions dressing up like the Backstreet Boys. The movie is a lot of fun however. A lot of good supporting cast like Steve Coogan, and Russell Brand is an awesome addition to the cast. Glad that Ken Jeoung's role was cut to a few lines in the film. He would had ruin the movie. Even though you know how the movie's going to end, you really want her and Gru to end up together. Agnes (Elsie Fischer) continues to be one of my favorite animation kid character ever and the Minions are ever so funny. Like I said before, a Minion movie will come out and also a Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem ride at Universal Studios will be set to open soon. So check out this movie, and the previous one. It's a charming fun film.