Not as bad as some cartoon sequels . . .

Rating: 8/10 (29 August 2013)

. . . such as CARS 2. Of course, any flick featuring the lovable minions has a leg up on the competition to begin with. As a bad guy gone good, the balding Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) visually puts one in mind of Bruce Willis, only funnier. Further, this feature ends with the most memorable cartoon wedding since UP, so it has a lot going for it. With songs that are passable and jokes which occasionally hit the funny bone, there are probably worse ways to spend 98 minutes (such as attending home games of the Miami Marlins, which are liable to run that long and more--you even have to pay for parking!). Also, did I mention the minions? In this second outing, some of them become what is listed in the credits as "evil minions," which implies that minions are born good (an arguable point). Having good and bad minions works better here than in the most similar flick out this summer, SMURFS 2, in which the Smurfette character is partially corrupted. Which means we have a lot of fun coming up next year, when the minions headline their own feature. Can't wait!