Film Review: Same Formula in Weak Sequel ‘Despicable Me 2’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 3, 2013 - 8:19am

CHICAGO – Oh those wacky Minions. We just never know what those little yellow guys in “Despicable Me 2” will do, because they simply DO EVERYTHING! They sing, fart, burp, perform parodies and handle hazardous materials. More than comic relief, they are all-purpose story coverage.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

That is just one of the dull elements of “Despicable Me 2.” The formally evil character named Gru is now a family man and jelly maker, and also pretty much does everything in order to generate laughs. And with no evil to be rehabilitated from – like the first film – he is reduced to Bachelor Number One for a comely secret agent. Yes, the plot goes in more directions than a broken weather vane, with the idea to make Gru become even more domesticated. If three adopted moppets can’t do it, how about a wife? It’s possible that these animators were financed by social engineers to teach the kiddies that society must remain hitched.

The film opens with Gru (voice of Steve Carell) reveling in his newly minted fatherhood. The orphans he has adopted, Margo, Agnes and Edith, are doing what newly adopted orphans do – be cute. Gru still has his evil laboratory, with his all-encompassing work staff called the Minions, but now he only creates inedible jelly, which forces his resident scientist – Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) – to leave the operation because it’s not evil enough.

Things change when Gru is kidnapped by a mysterious lady spy named Lucy (Kristen Wiig), and is assigned by her spy agency to infiltrate a local mall, where a secret formula that can transform the population into evil drones is being hidden. At the mall, Gru encounters a former colleague name El Macho (Benjamin Bratt) and a wig store proprietor named Floyd (Ken Jeong). He has to both figure out who has the formula and how to woo Agent Lucy.

“Despicable Me 2” opens everywhere on July 3rd in 3D and regular screenings. See local listings for 3D theaters and show times. Featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Russell Brand, Ken Jeong, Steve Coogan and Kristen Schaal. Screenplay by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul, directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud. Rated “PG”