When a Sequel Is Done Right

Rating: 7/10 (19 June 2014)

It seems unfortunately common for a good film to get a sequel and for that sequel to be a grave letdown. Sometimes they will change too much and lose the qualities that made the first film so likable and at others they seem to do nothing but rehash the same ideas that we saw the first time round. It's probably because it's tough to make common ground between these two possibilities to make the sequel worthwhile. Luckily Despicable Me 2 falls into neither of these categories, remaining as fun as the original and continuing to entertain us with the same visual based gags and ludicrous premise.
The premise this time around being that Gru has given up being an evil doer and has instead begun to make jam (the jam causes the minions to run in disgust) so he can spend time with his three girls. But he is quickly recruited by the anti villain league and partnered with the secret agent Lucy to track down a new super villain. In the meantime his minions slowly begin to disappear being taken under various mysterious circumstances. It's a nice ridiculous plot that does have time for moments of real sentiment as we see Gru being a father and his attempts at finding love.
Of course whilst sentiment and emotion are all well and good, just like the original film it is the comedy that never ceases to entertain and keeps us watching this franchise. It's a kind of universal comedy that can be loved by all through its focus on visual gags similar to something like Mr Bean or Tom and Jerry mixed with some hilarious dialogue (the name Ramsbottom still makes me chuckle). It doesn't matter if you're young or old, the silly nature of the film continues to make you laugh just as it did the first time round. The humour does die down towards the end with far fewer jokes being packed in to the climax, but it's still a film that knows how to make great comedy.
But what is able to make the film so funny? The minion's of course! These little guys have become the franchises mascots, with the marketing being entirely focused around those little things. The next film's even going to be a prequel entirely devoted to the minions. I don't know whether the writers ever knew that these characters would become so big, but now they are instantly amongst the most recognisable figures in modern animation with their large eyes and squishy yellow body becoming a regular fixture within many children's bedrooms. All this because every second they're on screen you'll be assured some great laughs with their silly voices and their adventurous nature.
After gaining 970 million dollars at the box office, this is a franchise that is not going to die down anytime soon. And I'm glad. It may not create the same feeling of fantasy as Kung Fu Panda does or the sense of adventure in the Toy Story films. Instead it makes you laugh at every opportunity and through this it is sure to become a classic as one of the best feel good franchises. I can only hope that all the future instalments have the same level of charm and enthusiasm that have made these first two films so incredible.