A Middling Continuation of Gru's Adventures; Lightly Entertaining

Rating: 5/10 (8 March 2017)

Picking up right where the original left off, evil genius Gru has seen the error of his ways and transitioned into life as the single, adoptive dad of three young girls. The sudden reform has left everyone (an army of minions, a long-time collaborator and Gru himself) a bit stir-crazy, so he seeks new thrills as a turncoat, tracking and identifying his former rivals for a stuffy government agency. Illumination has leveled-up their equipment since the first film, which makes for a far more polished visual product, but the story is less lively and fuzzy than its surprising predecessor. Of course the minions are everywhere, getting the star treatment before their inevitable spin off, but the girls are relegated to watery secondary story lines and there seem to be a lot of missed opportunities. Gru's job with the g-men, for instance, seems like a ready-made setup for introducing all sorts of wacky new characters and enlarging the world, but instead it merely hones in on a single new villain and ventures no further. The introduction of a love interest is hesitant, overly convenient, and never really clicks. There's plenty of fun stuff for younger audiences, of course, and some of the sight gags are clever, but most parents will find themselves daydreaming through the bulk of this one.