Despicable Me 2 may not have that spark of freshness that made the original such a big hit, but it has more mature themes cloaked in its slapstick silliness – and sometimes, familiarity can just funny as surprise.
Former supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) attained new heights when he stole the moon in the first film, but as points out in a clever moment early on in DM2, he did put it back – and has retired to be the loving father of his three adopted daughters – Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Kate Fisher). As we see – in an early moment when he has to substitute for a canceled appearance of a ‘fairy princess’ at Agnes’ birthday party – he is a great dad (which is probably as much a surprise to him as to anyone!).
When he is kidnapped by rookie Anti-Villain League Agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) to ensure he hear a request by AVL boss Silas Winterbottom (Steve Coogan) that he help find and capture a mystery villain who stole an entire research facility, he says no – he can’t even be persuaded with the knowledge that facility had created a formula for transforming average, placid creatures into indestructible killing machines.
In the meantime, Gru has to fend off the matchmaking efforts of Jillian (Nasim Pedrad), his next door neighbor, and fret about Margo’s texting with a friend who has the unisex name, Avery – and, with the help of his friend and evil scientist Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), try to find the perfect recipe for a line of jams and jellies he wants to produce. In the meantime, something strange is going on with his Minions…
When he is finally reeled in to help AVN, his cover is as the proprietor of an overly-appropriately named cupcake shop in the local mall – in which the mystery villain possibly owns a store. Naturally, Lucy is assigned to help him (the reason for which is not only funny, but makes perfect sense). Before they are even open for business, Gru finds his first suspect in the form of Eduardo (Benjamin Britt), owner of a Mexican restaurant who looks exactly like the villainous El Macho who apparently died by dropping himself into a live volcano with thirty pounds of explosives strapped to his body.
Another suspect is Floyd (Ken Jeong), the owner of a wig shop, but Gru is not convinced – his attention is focused on Eduardo, whose son, Antonio (Moises Arias) is the focus of Margo’s first crush.
DM2 is just as fast-paced as the original, but delves more deeply into the characters of Gru and his family. Despite his best efforts, Margo is growing up and his fatherly fears are genuine and touching. When he tells Agnes, ‘never get older,’ there is such tenderness that we understand how far he has come.
His relationship with Lucy may be a case of partners who start out not liking each other but thanks to Carell and Wiig, we know that they belong together. Her verbal ticks and fidgets balance his rough edges in much the same way that his daughters do. It just takes the blind date from hell – Jillian finally wears him down and sets him up her friend Shannon (Kristen Schall) – to get them to look at each other with new eyes.
As for the villain’s big plan, it rivals anything Gru might have done for sheer scope (and hilarity) and leads to one of the movie’s great throwaway visual gags – a unique sombrero. An odd new use of the song El Cucaracha is also a highlight (let’s just say that Gru is no Indiana Jones…).
There are visual puns and gags that will appeal to viewers of all ages; some are surprisingly sophisticated others (fart guns!) are not. What matters though, is that Despicable Me 2 has heart to spare – the way Gru has grown into his responsibilities as a father – and hilarity to burn. And there are always the Minions when things look like they might be starting to flag (though giving them an entire movie might be a bit too much…).
Final Grade: A
Stills courtesy of Universal Pictures