Good use of the minions make it work even if it is uneven and plot not particularly engaging

Rating: Null/10 (8 December 2013)

The key thing for me about this film is that the plot really didn't stick in my head. I don't mean the easy summary that Gru is employed to help locate and takedown another super villain suspected to be working out of a local mall, but rather that the detail of it didn't leave a mark. It isn't that I needed an animated kids film to have a really gripping narrative, but here it is a bit meh in its content and pacing. This is where it is weak but generally it manages to shore the film up all around the plot by adding constant cute and funny bits at every turn.
As with the first film, the film is at its best when it gives a throwaway moment to Agnes or, more frequently, it lets a minion fall off something. This it does a lot and it is never not funny but at times it does start to feel a little like the film is overusing them and hurting the main characters by comparison. Gru is less interesting and often just feels like a plot device to make a story so that the film can mess around within that frame and this goes for many of the human characters. It does still work though but, while the film is loaded with voices from Carrell, Wiig, Schaal and many others, it really tends to play to its short yellow strengths instead.
It is still funny, but the minions should be the cherry on top – not the whole show.