I loved Despicable Me. I rated it #2 in 2010. I stand by that. Despicable Me 2 will not rate #2 in 2013. It didn’t even rate #2 of the films I saw that very day. That said, it’s not a bad film, it just isn’t the original. Nor does it feel at all original. In a way, that’s good, because the story feels like a natural extension of the first. And in a way that’s not good as I felt like, “why am I not just watching the original, then?”
I loved Despicable Me because it showed such heart to match the humor. We still get glimpses here like when Gru (voice of Steve Carell) attends a Cinco de Mayo fiesta while at the same time feeling romantically abandoned. He sadly accepts a chip-dip sombrero and proceeds slowly and mechanically to drown his sorrows in headgear hors d’oeuvres. When the plot intervenes, Gru needs to focus his attention elsewhere while daughter Margo parties on the dance floor with the kid from The Lorax. When Gru returns, Margo has taken his place, alone in a corner slowly 
and mechanically eating her hat, rejected by the kid from The Lorax. I have no idea who wrote that moment – but that’s what drives this franchise –and- more of it was needed here.
This time around, Gru has now seen the light and has joined the forces of good. Yay. This means we can dress him as a princess for his adopted daughter’s birthday party. He is abducted by Good Guy Agent Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and forced to set up a muffin shop in the nearby mall. OK, that part seems a little contrived. And I felt like there were so many missed opportunities surrounding baked humor. Allergies? Fear of malls? “My sadistic father was a baker?” Minions making minion-shaped cookies would be fun, no? Nothin’ along these lines. The focus instead is Gru falling in love while scoping out a combination ex-villain/Mexican wrestler (Benjamin Bratt). The love story is better. Get a load of Gru’s bitchin’ wig, as opposed to Kristin “Bitchin’ “ Wiig.
What we might be learning here is there is more humor in bad than good. Is it funnier to steal the moon than prevent a guy from stealing the moon? Yes. Yes it is.
Gru
grew
With a love new
You
would, too
if you
knew
who
could stop the blue
Quite the coup
True
Rated PG, 98 Minutes
D: Chris Renaud, Pierre Louis Padang Coffin (are you kidding me? Tell you what, when I die I don’t want no simple box; I want the deluxe Pierre Louis Padang Coffin. Talk about goin’ in style …)
W: Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul (Is that Spanish for this Pope?)
Genre: Lovevillain
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Are you breathlessly awaiting a “Minions” TV show?
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Those expecting a repeat of the first
