A Comedy for Small Children

Rating: 3/10 (8 July 2013)

Standing as one of the most uninteresting protagonists to grace the world of animation in the past few years, my only question is: who really cares about Gru? And after watching "Despicable Me 2", I can't for the life of me figure out why the original even merited this sequel if the character of Gru was going to continue to be at the helm. Expecting to see a story about the reformed villain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) "getting back into the game" (by which I mean being recruited by the Anti-Villain League (creative name I know) in order to help with the capture of the next super villain bent on world domination) but instead getting a throw-away love story, with forced sentimentality and a final battle sequence which comes up terribly short.
OK, so if you know me then you understand that I don't care for the Minions. But I do get why small children enjoy their incoherent babbling and slapstick antics. And the youngest girl in these films is one of the cutest animated characters outside of any Pixar film. But again, I don't get the appeal of Gru outside of the well conceived plot of the original, which took a lot of people by surprise and which I even gave a positive review to.
Synopsis: Watch Gru make silly faces, watch the cute kid be cutesy, but most of all watch the Minions beat each other senseless. This entire movie seems to be the result of a focus group that when asked what they enjoyed most about the first movie responded with a resounding: MINIONS! And so that's essentially what we get here, Minions at every turn. But as the most annoying part of the original, in small doses said Minions had been tolerable. But when said Minions appear in nearly every scene (as they do here) in conjunction with the relentless Minion-centric trailers we all had to sit though lo these past few months, "Despicable Me 2" only becomes more tiresome as it moves forward. Well, unless you wanted to see a Minions movie. And honestly, that is what many fans of the original are going to buy a ticket expecting to see. So, what do I know? Highlights: There is one funny character in this movie and it's not Kristen Wiig, who voices Lucy, an agent of the Anti-Villain League and the only character more annoying than the Minions. Clearly the best character in "Despicable Me 2" goes by the name of El Macho (voiced by Benjamin Bratt). But between this character, the little girl being cutesy and the two Minion covers of well known songs during the finale which is sure to get a rise out of audiences, the overall entertainment factor is still low if you are going into this film not a Minions apologist.
Side Note: Do you know why the Minions aren't funny? Because their style of physical comedy is not at all clever. In fact, I don't believe their style of comedy is meant to be clever, but instead bait cheap laughs. For example: Have you ever seen a grown man hit himself in the face in order to make a crying infant laugh? Well, the Minions are kind of like that. Displaying the most infantile physical humor designed to send a room full of small children into hysterical laughter. So why millions of adults laugh at these antics is beyond me.
Final Thought: While it is true that I believe the Minions are the most annoying group of animated characters since the Chipmunks, if you read this review carefully my dislike of "Despicable Me 2" goes deeper than a simple hatred of those freaky little tater tots with eyes. "Despicable Me 2" is a supremely well animated, predictable and incredibly uncreative shell of the original, with every comedic moment playing for cheap laughs. And unlike most things in life, not even Pharrell can save this production. In short, there is really no reason to watch "Despicable Me 2" unless you were dying to see a Minions spin off or you are under 10 years of age.
Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland
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