DESPICABLE ME 2 REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In 2010, Illuminations Entertainment released their debut feature film, Despicable Me, which was based on the life of try-hard villain, Gru (voice of Steve Carell). It was a success, both among film critics and audiences and also at the box office, earning over $543 million. Because of Despicable Me's success, a sequel was released three years later. Nowadays, most sequels aren't as good as their predecessor but can the same be said for Despicable Me 2?

While Gru, the ex-supervillain is adjusting to family life and an attempted honest living in the jam business, a secret Arctic laboratory is stolen. The Anti-Villain League decides it needs an insider's help and recruits Gru in the investigation. Together with the eccentric AVL agent, Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), Gru concludes that his prime suspect is the presumed dead supervillain, El Macho (Benjamin Bratt), whose teenage son (Moises Arias) is also making the moves on his eldest daughter, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove). Seemingly blinded by his overprotectiveness of his children and his growing mutual attraction to Lucy, Gru seems on the wrong track even as his minions are being quietly kidnapped en masse for some malevolent purpose.

Despicable Me was, surprisingly, a highly entertaining animated film that revolved around the life of Gru and his attempt to be the best villain by stealing the moon. However, his life was changed after adopting the three girls, Margo, Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher), and he goes from superbad to superdad. This character development worked really well and gave the film a heartwarming ending. Despicable Me 2 picks up where its predecessor left off, with Gru living life as a father to his three adopted girls. Instead of scheming, the film opens with him throwing a party for Agnes and dressing up as a fairy princess, when the original fails to turn up. This scene proves how much of a doting father Gru has become, however, he finds himself using his knowledge of villains to help the Anti-Villain League. In the previous film, Wiig voiced the evil Miss Hattie and she returns but lends her voice to Lucy, an eccentric and bubbly woman who teams up with Gru. With Carell and Wiig both being experienced in comedy, they know how to get viewers to laugh. As the film progresses, the pair develop a convincing relationship. 

There's no doubt children will love this follow-up, however, there's plenty for older viewers to enjoy too.  Writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio have included enough jokes that will entertain the whole family. There's a funny subplot involving Gru, in protective-father mode, trying to stop Margo from forming a relationship with El Macho's son, Antonio. One of the funniest scenes shows Margo and Antonio dancing together at a party with Gru trying new ways to separate the pair. It's something that a lot of parents will be able to relate to, I'm sure. 

Apart from Gru, the funniest characters were his minions. Because of their unique appearance and their gibberish-like language, which is written by directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, the minions were the most entertaining characters to watch. In the first film, they were mainly there to serve Gru, however, in this sequel, they soon begin disappearing after the main villain begins to kidnap them to use them for his own gain. This leads to viewers seeing a completely different and darker side to the beloved minions. It's a twist I didn't see coming when I first watched this sequel. However, the reveal of the villain wasn't as surprising, due to it being so obvious. This doesn't ruin the film, though. 

One of my favourite things about the previous film was its climax which showed Gru successfully achieving his plan of stealing the moon, however, he soon does the right thing by saving his three adopted daughters from the evil Vector (Jason Segal). While the climax of this sequel isn't as good due to the lack of tension and because it borders more on ridiculous rather than exciting, it's still enjoyable to watch. 

The animation, like its predecessor, is filled with bright and vibrant colours. It's not the best animated, however, it's far from the worst. While Despicable Me wasn't nominated for any Academy Awards, it still walked away with a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 2011 Golden Globes. In 2014, the sequel was one of five animated features nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards, however, it lost to Disney's Frozen. 

Despicable Me 2 also received a nomination for Pharrell Williams' song 'Happy' which is played out in a sequence that features Gru happy dancing on his way to meet Lucy. Williams' uplifting and powerful song, which was written and produced by him, went to Number 1 in many countries across the globe and, as of April 2016, has sold over four million copies in the UK. I doubt many people will be watching this scene with a straight face. The song is effective and will bring a smile to anyone's face, no matter what mood you're in.

In answer to my earlier question, yes, Despicable Me 2 is just as good as its predecessor. The reception it received from both critics and audiences was mainly positive. At the box office, it just missed out on reaching the $1 billion mark and received over $970 million. Because of this, a spin-off film based on Gru's beloved minions was released in 2015 and that received over $1 billion at the box office. At time of writing this, the third film is about to be released and I have no doubts that it'll be just as entertaining as its predecessors. 

7/10