DESPICABLE ME 2: in cinemas now [short review]

Despicable Me 2 (2013)
Directed by: Chris Renauld, Pierre Coffin
Written by: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio
Starring: Benjamin Bratt, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Carell

IN CINEMAS NOW

RUNNING TIME: 98 min

REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera, Official HCF Critic

Former super-villain Gru is happy living with his three adopted daughters Margo, Edith, and Agnes, though he is not having much like breaking into the jam and jelly businesses. Much to Gru’s chagrin, his neighbour, Jillian, begins pushing Gru to take some of her single acquaintances on a date. Kidnapped by Lucy Wilde and taken to the underwater Anti-Villain League Headquarters, he is asked to become a “spy” in order to track down a new super-villain who has stolen a research laboratory and a chemical compound that can transform life-forms into invincible mutant killing machine. Initially reluctant, his mind is soon changed by the rather attractive Lucy…..

Kid’s films spawn sequels more than horror movies do these days, though this writer was a bit apprehensive when a sequel was announced to the best animated film of 2010. Well have no fear, it’s actually a very worthy follow-up. Like many of the best sequels, it manages to be both a different story and a continuation of the original, and gets the perfect balance between giving the audience more of the same and giving them something new. With Gru now no longer a villain, it doesn’t have many of the subversive elements of the first film, but it certainly has its heart, revolving around the sweetest ‘will they,won’t they” relationship in ages, and is even funnier. Many of the laughs centre on those wonderful yellow creatures called the Minions and their harmless brutality. Though the spy spoof tale has been done to death and the film’s more involved plotting means that it lacks the narrative drive of the original, the invention level is high and sometimes borders on surreal. This is the kind of a film where someone tries to commit suicide by strapping himself to a shark and skydiving into a volcano. A great watch for kids and adults alike, and further proof that, as ‘proper’ blockbusters are increasingly lacking in new ideas, spark, and the fun factor, the animated film is increasingly becoming a better source of those elements. Despicable Me 2 doesn’t even suffer much by having not only Russell Brand but Ken Jeong in it.

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