Weak rehash of ideas from the first one

Rating: 5/10 (5 July 2013)

The animation is good, and actors have done a good job providing the voices. However, the movie remains a confused and weak rehash of the same ideas of the first one. Shark? Check. Missile? Check. Crazy contraptions? Check.
This second installment begins many plot themes, but none of them materialize into a story. Not enough time is devoted to get any story line going, and the movie jumps from one to the other. Sometimes when the movie gets back (for example, to the hair club), that's when you remember 'Oh, yeah! that happened".
In the end, there is not much time for a climax, and it ends up being silly, but not in an entertaining way.
Where the movie really fails is in the expectations set by the first one. The richness of the various characters are missing, even that of Mr. Perkins. Ultimately, the girls don't have much to do, nor Dr. Nefario, Gru's mother, or even the minions.
Sequels often fall short of the first, but with the imagination shown in the first one, you would think that they would have enough left over for making another one. Unfortunately, it looks there was just enough imagination left for the Trailer.