Movie Review # 686: Despicable Me 2 (2013)

And now, on to Despicable Me 2!

Plot: Sometime after the events of the first film, Gru (Steve Carrell) is summoned by Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan), and the Anti-Villain League (AVL) to find a criminal mastermind that stole a mutagen from the Artic Circle by the name of PX-41, which could cause trouble when tested on others. With the help of agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), can Gru find the culprit, bring him to justice, and prevent the mutagen from being used on others like the Minions?

So, did this sequel improve over the first film, or did it fall lower than the first film? Well, I’ll be honest with you guys, this was one of those rare to few times where the sequel improved over the first Despicable Me in quite a few ways. First of all, Gru’s character development was better improved this time around. Not only that, but his relationship with Margo, Edith, and Agnes was better developed. He, and agent Lucy Wilde also had great chemistry onscreen as well. And as for the villain, who was called El Macho (who was voiced by Benjamin Bratt), wow, talk about an improvement from Vector. Okay, that’s not to say that Vector was a badly developed villain by any means. It’s just that El Macho seemed to be the more memorable one of the two. Honestly, one could likely argue that, as far as animated sequels go, El Macho may as well have been the Lord Shen of the Despicable Me franchise, but the difference being that El Macho may not have been as menacing as Shen, but more memorable than Vector, and had a mix of villainy, and comedy combined together, and working perfectly. Also, how could you not like El Macho’s pet chicken, Pollito? Additionally, it was cool that this film ended up acting like a spy type of movie. Honestly, since there was a little bit of a James Bond type of element at some points in the first film, it worked really well in this sequel. What’s more is that this film, overall, works as a comedy. Not only that, but, even though some of the humor may feel childish, there’s still adult charm to be found too, even from the Minions. Oh, and some of the comedy is also brilliant at times too. Finally, the animation seemed to improve to a degree this time around as well.

Honestly, if you were to ask what faults that Despicable Me 2, they would be that, one, there were one, or two newer characters from this sequel that may have acted a little over the top, and seemed to grind on your nerves. The other thing is that there were a times when Gru felt upset, and frustrated about certain situations, and handled them in an unhealthy way, by taking them out on other people. Okay, it’s okay to be upset, no doubt. But taking it out on other people, and being a jerk to others?!? Yeah, never the best idea.

And that’s my review for Despicable Me 2. It is definitely an improvement from the first film, despite a couple glaring cults. If you haven’t seen the second film, then I highly recommend it. You will most definitely have a a fun time. So yeah, go see Despicable Me 2, and see what you think!

Final Grade: A-