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Review: Despicable Me 2 is not despicable at all

Gru's Minions take a break from work. taking a break from the job. These adorable creatures help provide a plot relief as well as a whole bunch of laughs. Photo courtesy of Illumination Entertainment.
Gru’s Minions take a break from work. taking a break from the job. These adorable creatures provide a whole bunch of laughs. Photos courtesy of Illumination Entertainment.

With the Oscars this Sunday, there is a lot of buzz about which movie will win the Best Animated Feature Picture award and one of the major frontrunners is Illumination Entertainment’s, “Despicable Me 2”. In this years Oscars, the film has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and features the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, which was nominated for Best Original Song. The movie was well done in terms of animation which made up for the predictable plot and excessive children’s humor.

Just like the first movie, the plot  revolves around Gru (Steve Carell), a retired supervillain who is now focused on raising three young girls. All of his evil resources such as his machinery and minions, have been transformed in order to mass-produce jelly. In a sudden turn of events, Gru finds himself working with the Anti-Villian League and is teamed up with rookie agent Lucy Wilde (Kristin Wiig) on an attempt to find a stolen mutagen known as PX-41.

“Despicable Me 2” is successful grabbed my attention because it incorporated two of the most important aspects of all high quality animation movies: good voice acting and animation.

The voice acting in “Despicable Me 2” is exceptional. Carrell’s unique accent is incredibly funny and makes Gru one of the most memorable characters in the animation business. Listening to Gru as well as Lucy go back and forth keeps viewers engaged and eager to see what development occurs between them. While the voice acting of the three girls (Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaiser and Elsie Fisher) don’t necessary stand out, they do a sufficient job nonetheless.

The animation in the film is also very good. The “cartoon” aspect of the animation really stands out. There are a lot of action fights and freeze guns but, most importantly, it is the cute yellow minions that give the movie life. These lovable creatures are key to the plot development and also have their own little skits scattered throughout the film. While the animations can be goofy at times, it still adds an important element to the film.

The only real stand out issue was the plot, which felt all too predictable and made the movie seem a little bit flat. The movie contains a lot of children’s humor that teenagers might not appreciate. Outside of the main characters, the supporting characters didn’t stand out but did a good job nevertheless. Overall, it is a very laid back and easy movie. Expect a lot of laughter and smiles.

“Despicable Me 2”

1 hour, 38 minutes

Rated: PG for violence and language

Starring: Steve Carell, Kristin Wiig and Miranda Cosgrove

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