Despicable Me 2 (2013) review

Despicable Me 2 (2013)

IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes 75%

Despicable Me is one of my more favorite movies, and it has been re-watched at least a dozen times. The movie just managed to keep making me laugh; no matter how many times I heard the jokes. That meant I was super excited to see the sequel. Sadly though, my schedule just recently allowed me to watch it.

Actors: Steve Carell as Gru, Kristen Wiig as Lucy, Benjamin Bratt as Eduardo/El Macho, Miranda Cosgrove as Margo, Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario, Ken Jeong as Floyd, Steve Coogan as Silas, Elsie Fisher as Agnes, Dana Gaier as Edith, Moises Arias as Antonio, Nasim Pedrad as Jillian, and Kristen Schaal as Shannon

Directors: Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud

Writers: Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio

Genre: Animation, Adventure, and Comedy

Movie Release Date: July 3, 2013

DVD Release Date: Dec 10, 2013

The movie picks up not too long after the previous one. It begins with the stealing of an entire research center, and then moves to Agnes's birthday part. They did a proper job of keeping the two movies flowing into one another, and I quite appreciate that.

The voice over work in the movie is great. I love the direction that Steve Carell went with Gru in the first movie, and he continues this amazing job in the second. I was a little thrown by Kristen Wiig as Lucy, but only because she voiced over Lola and my brain kept hearing Lola and not Lucy. It took a bit, but it did finally adjust it. I also had to chuckle at the fact that Steve and Kristen are playing characters that fall in love, because I just watched the two of them in Anchorman 2 with a similar situation. I may have also lost my marbles when I heard Kristen Schaal who I absolutely love as a voice actor!

Some of my favorite parts about this movie is that they are never afraid to make fun of themselves in the movie. It never takes anything super seriously which is always refreshing. They also do a great job with the small details of things. The unicorn from the first movie reappears just like the pod beds (which did get some nice upgrades). There is even a minion that gets a jar stuck on his head in the beginning of the movie, and he keeps popping up in backgrounds with that jar still stuck to his head. I completely appreciate it when a movie doesn't let the small details slip through the cracks. The only part that bothered me slightly (and not enough to make me not enjoy the movie) is that it focused a lot less on the girls. The story was more about Gru and Lucy, but I can't be all that mad about it. It would have been weird if it was any other way. I did like that they kept Gru true to who he was. So although he embraced his role as a parent, he never lost his core qualities.

Overall, if you liked the first movie, you are going to like the second one. I adored this movie and am excited to have a Despicable Me marathon at some point in the future. It's not just a kid movie, but kids can of course watch this movie with you.

Hope you have a villainous day!