MOVIE REVIEW:
DESPICABLE ME 2 (3D)
Starring:
Steve Carrell
Benjamin Bratt
Kristin Wigg
Back in 2010, Despicable Me was one of those movies where you
didn’t really expect it to be a hit; it may have been a gamble for the studios
that time. With a hit like Despicable Me it is expected to have a sequel to be
released in the coming years. It is a gamble whether or not Despicable Me 2
would be a bigger hit than its predecessor especially with the help of the
walking yellow nuggets that are more known to the public as “minions”.
Despicable Me 2 takes place years after the first film; Gru
retires from being a villain to becoming a family man to three girls and running
a business of making jelly with the help of his minions and Dr. Nefario. But he
is meanwhile brought in by the Anti-Villain League and he is given an
undercover assignment to stop a potential villain in the city mall.
I enjoyed the first Despicable Me film for what it is, it’s not
the most mature animated film I have seen but I did enjoy and was entertained
by the film anyways. I wasn’t really expecting much but to have a good time
with the film and have laugh out loud moments by those minions, and I did. If
you thought the Despicable Me 1 is good, this film gets better.
We can all agree that this is a rather childish film though I can
see most adults both young and old can enjoy watching this. I was in a
screening where it had older, teenage, middle-aged people than children in that
screening and all of them had a good time, they laughed at every joke, and awed
in every cute scene the film would throw out on the screen. Admittedly, I was
one of those people.
The film is not really for everyone, mostly to those who are
looking for an animated film that is deeply told. The story of the film is not
entirely original nor is it a deeply-told-Oscar-winning kind either though it did
tell a good enough kid-friendly story and at the same time it is a more
legitimate animated spy movie than Cars 2. The film is definitely predictable,
you can literally sniff what’s going to happen right before a certain event can
happen; in fact 2-3 years ago, when the news came out that there would be a
sequel to Despicable Me I've always thought that it felt unnecessary to give it a sequel but as I thought about it I knew that they will bring a mom-figure and make Gru
do something heroic in the sequel (called it). This film continues to expand
family element of the story, the film telling story arcs like a daughter having
an attraction for boys and living a life with only one parent weren’t really
developed very well compared to the last film where the film is so big on that
family element. I left the theater wishing that those particular elements could’ve
been developed and have a proper ending to most of the situations being told
earlier in the film.
This film is an animated comedy at its – “ok-est”. The jokes in
this movie is a mix bag of a lot of good a bit of bad; they are the kind of
jokes that are pretty much typical childish humor that kids will enjoy and most
of the kiddy jokes are the kind that us adults can get and can float around the
kids’ heads, most of the jokes did fall flat in the film, mostly they are
centered around some characters that are rather obnoxious and yet cringe worthy
for someone like me (a 54-year old man in a 17-year old kid’s body). “G.P., how
are the minions in the film?” well, the minions are actually used more in this
movie; they’re not just in the background punching each other or making funny
noises, in this film they actually have a hilarious song number by the end,
they have more stuff to do, they have a huge plot point by the end, and even
more genuine (enough) comedy for those walking yellow nuggets. In the theater,
I don’t usually laugh by these kinds of things easily, but I end up laughing my
ass off at most scenes.
The animation is perfect for the film; the movement is energetic, the
colors are vibrant, and the character designs are fun to look at. I thought the
3D in this film is just good, compared to the first Despicable Me, the 3D is a
bit nerfed down and I don’t think you’ll be missing out much on the 3D version
of this.
The voice cast is great as always, hearing from their voices I can
tell that everyone had a spectacular time voicing each character. Steve
Carell’s impression of a Bela Lugosi-esque (ex-) villain really works on his
character, Gru. I’ve always thought that he has the most unique voice out of
the entire cast. New faces like Kristin Wigg was the perfect female cartoon
voice, it is a no-brainer that she’d play a character this – exaggerated.
Benjamin Bratt (or as I like to call him “generic guy who is a cop”) as this
character El Macho, (besides the Minions) his character stole the show,
especially that one particular scene where they introduce his past, though it could’ve
been interesting to see how Al Pacino pulls off this character but for Benjamin
Bratt he was pretty good. The remaining casts of characters like the kids and
Russell Brand’s Dr. Nefario are very
good as always even though they have a bit less to do with the plot than they
have in the last movie.
In the end, Despicable Me 2 didn’t really feel like an unnecessary
sequel to begin with, it was actually enjoyable and in fact much more enjoyable
than the last film. The voice acting is great as always, the animation is
bright and energetic, and the film does deliver a solid story along with a
hilarious comedic element to it. The movie had its fair share of flaws that did
take me out of the film for a brief second of the film. The film is without a
doubt fun for the whole family, I can actually see both kids and parents
enjoying this (again, I was in a theater full of families and teenagers and
they happen to enjoy this). If you are looking for an animated film that could
be better than what Pixar has done in the past, this may not be it for you, in
fact this good be a good rental for you.
THE GOOD:
+ANIMATION
+THE COMEDIC ELEMENT
+SOLID STORY
+GREAT VOICE ACTING
THE BAD:
-MOST OF THE JOKES FELL
FLAT
-THERE WERE A COUPLE OF
ELEMENTS THAT SHOULD’VE BEEN DEVELOPED
MY RATING:
4/5 - FOR THE WIN!
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