Gru: Steve Carell
Lucy: Kristen Wiig
Margo: Miranda Cosgrove
Edith: Dana Gaier
Agnes: Elsie Fisher
Eduardo: Benjamin Bratt
Dr. Nefario: Russell Brand
Floyd: Ken Jeong
Silas: Steve Coogan
Universal Pictures presents
a film directed by Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud. Written by Ken Daurio
& Cinco Paul. Running time: 98 min. Rated PG (for rude humor and mild
action).
De•spi•ca•ble — adj.
deserving to be despised: so worthless or obnoxious as to arouse moral
indignation <despicable
behavior>
Merriam-Webster defines the
word “despicable” as “deserving to be despised.” For some reason this word has
been applied by the filmmakers to the hero of the “Despicable Me” franchise, a
criminal mastermind named Gru. At one point in time the word might have applied
to Gru. He lives in a world where supervillains try to outdo one another with
the brazen and public nature of their crimes. One such criminal stole one of
the pyramids in the first film. Gru tried to retaliate by stealing the moon,
but was tripped up by his own plan, which involved adopting three orphan girls
to help him break into his nemesis’ lair. But Gru came to love these three
little girls. Now, in a second film, Gru is not only far from despicable, he’s
more like a hero; if not to the world at large, then at least to his three
girls.
I suppose they couldn’t have
changed the title completely. “Responsible Me” just doesn’t have the same ring
to it. But, Gru has changed his colors. Now, he is sought out by the AVL—the
Anti-Villain League—to help them solve the theft of a research lab. Yes, the
entire lab, where a serum was being developed that turns little rabbits into
nearly indestructible killing machines. They believe the criminal mastermind
behind the theft has set up shop at a Mall of America type of shopping mall.
They want Gru to pose as one of the shopkeepers and sniff out the mastermind.
Meanwhile at home, little
Agnes is yearning for a mother figure. Gru is a great dad. Perhaps his
surprising skill at being a dad is making his girls wish that he could find a
suitable companion for himself. The oldest daughter, Margo, is just discovering
boys. Maybe Gru could use a little help with that one. I know I’m going to have
trouble with it.
Gru is teamed with another
agent, named Lucy. She’s also the agent who was sent to bring Gru into the AVL.
After she tasers him, stuffs him into the trunk of her spy car, which also
turns into a submarine and a plane, he suggests that next time the League might
consider a phone call. Gru is not great with women. There’s another of Gru’s
sad flashbacks to childhood, like in the first film, where we see how awful
other people treated him when he tried to ask a girl on a date. There’s another
sequence where the nosy neighborhood housewife sets him up on a date with her
cousin. After Lucy saves him from it, they mutually dub it “The Worst Date Ever”.
Perhaps the right woman is standing right in front of Gru.
“Despicable Me 2” is a
perfectly respectable family movie. My wife described the first movie as “perfect.”
In many ways, the second is a perfect sequel to the first. It’s cute. It’s
non-offensive. It’s fun. It will make you laugh. It isn’t a laugh riot, but it’s
good for the giggles. It’s almost too perfect. It doesn’t really take any
chances. There aren’t really any surprises. At least not to the seasoned
filmgoer, but it’s not really made for a seasoned filmgoer. It’s made for the
kids. For the kids, it probably is perfect.
Gru’s minions are, of
course, back for the second installment. They pretty much only serve the
purpose of providing physical comedy to give the audience a break from the not
so challenging story. They’re just as funny this time around as the last time.
They feature a little more prominently into the plot this time. The evil genius
who stole the serum also steals a good deal of Gru’s minions to turn into
indestructible monsters. I worried that some boundary was going to be broken
here by vilifying these innocent pranksters, but the filmmakers wisely steer
clear of any such problems.
My favorite parts of both
films, however, are the three girls. Perhaps its because I’m an adoptive parent
myself. Perhaps it’s just because I’m a parent. Perhaps it’s just because I’m
getting old and have seen too many movies, but watching those three girls just
being little girls is funnier to me than any number of minions bonking each
other on the head, and they warm my heart. The filmmakers do such a good job of
capturing their ages and divergent personalities. Even though they
theoretically all came from different gene pools, they are true siblings in how
much they differ from each other. That might not make any sense to anyone who
isn’t a parent, but it does to all who are.
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