Despicable Me 2

Staring: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Russell Brand.

Directed by: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renauld.

Reviewed by: Adam Harmer

[rating: 2.5/5]

Over the last couple of decades companies like Pixar have changed the landscape of animation forever. It’s not just kids who get excited for these productions anymore. We’ve been treated to so many well structured stories with incredible characters and relatable issues in a variety of thrilling scenarios. But not every attempt at animation results in ‘Up’ or ‘The Incredibles’.

‘Despicable Me’ was Universal’s first attempt to crack into this market three years ago and it was an undeniable financial success. It was also a fun film that overloaded the senses with sight gags and visceral high octane set-pieces.

Its sequel follows in the same vein, picking up where the last one left off. The once world renowned, theatrically gifted criminal, Gru – voiced wonderfully by Steve Carrell, is now living with his three adopted daughters and attempting to live respectably, retiring from the villain game. The straight life for Gru is tough going at first but his buttoned down routine is soon interrupted when he is recruited by agent Lucy Wilde (more inspired casting with Kristen Wiig) into the well-funded, anti-villain league. Now working for the good guys, Gru is sent out on a mission to find a mysterious villain who is wreaking havoc around the place.

The plot is as straight forward as they come. It’s one aspect of the film I feel the creators weren’t particularly invested in. Unfortunately another one is proper character development. But this isn’t that kind of film. Is it?

‘Despicable Me 2’ isn’t a bad film. It does exactly what it’s supposed to. It’s a big film full of cheap jokes, gorgeous animation, a hilarious cast, fast paced road-runneresque action, and an endless slew of adorable characters. For some odd reason the daughters take a back seat this time, which puzzled me as they seemed to be the highlight for most people in the previous one. But the overindulgence in Gru’s army of cute minions makes up for it.

For adults – if you’re a die-hard fan of animation and able to switch your brain to a slow idle setting, you will have fun here. It’s not for the masses but kids will eat it up like a hot, glazed ham on a cold winter’s night.

Audiences of animation have almost been spoilt over the last few years. This genre was traditionally always designed for children – to give the parents a break. It’s the cinematic version of jingling some keys in a baby’s face. But a few visionary creators saw the potential there and built upon the original design, giving those jingling keys depth and character. These keys suddenly made even adults think and feel and even cry. We’d fall in love with these glistening, jingly keys. But sometimes a set of keys comes along and you realise they are just a set of jingling keys in your face, which in reality, shouldn’t be a detraction if that’s what they’re supposed to be.

If you’ve seen the first, you’ll know what to expect, although I did enjoy this one a little more than the original.