Jokes Over Substance

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2013)

The first Despicable Me was like a potential for a childhood favorite of the new generation by showing a memorable set of characters, and themes that contain a right amount of heart and sweetness. The existence of a sequel is obvious, by the way, there may be more things to explore in this villainous world. The charms and laughs return, but dealing with the story, it's cluttered with subplots that feels episodic and messy. However, many would still find it very entertaining and hilarious. Despicable Me 2 is okay, but its ambition needs to be more than their obsession with the minions.
Just like the original, the film sets Gru to a simple mission, then he suddenly gets some distractions by his family building issues. But those certain distractions helps the film to be more than just a silly James Bond parody adventure and eventually gives a heartwarming message. We can accept this way of being more interested in the family stuff than the spy action, but now this sequel doesn't have much of the consistency from the first. There isn't much going on in the main plot, letting the subplots do most of the job. The subplots, as always, are tend to build a theme, but the story didn't dig enough to make all of that compelling. In the end, some twists are suddenly revealed and almost all of their problems are immediately solved.
The voice performances still fill some life to these delightful characters. The best parts, without a doubt, are the minions, since they are the biggest reason why everyone wanted to see this. Their humor and antics are priceless and there is no single scene that you won't giggle. Here, they are a lot crazier than you would hope, because definitely that is what any kid or fan wants. The animation and action scenes are as lively as the comedy running around.
Despicable Me 2 spares some good laughs, but it's still sort of disappointing. It indulges itself for focusing too much on the cute stuff. That's not bad, but the film quickly loses interest at the bigger picture. As much as it's terribly entertaining and funny, people will leave the theater lacking enough heart. The central plot is not energetic compared to the comedy, and the protagonist's distractions, which are supposed to create themes, are now plain distractions. Thinking aside, how worse could have been? To those who root for the characters(other than the minions) will somehow like it at least. A less bland blockbuster can be beneficial in this era. Still, the film would've been way better.