Despicable Me 2

A somewhat unlikely animated megahit in 2010, the first Despicable Me took a great concept and watered it down just enough to make it family-friendly. The supervillain protagonist, Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), looked the part, with his Blofeld-like bald head, circular torso, and spidery legs, but the villainy itself was mostly abstract, almost poetic — Gru wanted to steal the moon, not rule the world or enslave millions or anything truly monstrous. The sequel doesn’t even try to replicate that earlier, defanged concept: Since Gru seemed to give up evil (or “evil”) at the end of the first film, when he became the adoring parent to three headstrong young foster girls, now he just makes jam and throws birthday parties, his dark, once-creepy lair outfitted with balloons and decorations. And when an organization called the Anti-Villain League recruits him

to help catch a mysterious new criminal, Gru turns into a fully fledged good guy. There’s nothing despicable about him anymore, if there ever was. They should have just called the movie Me 2.

Actually, the action-movie/espionage high jinks are secondary to the new film’s chief concern, which has to do with Gru’s mostly nonexistent love life and his fondness for the perky, leggy, lipstick-taser-wielding AVL agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig). Unfortunately, Gru is terrified of women and incapable of asking her out. Meanwhile, a neighbor sets him up on dates with other, clearly undeserving females. The film spends a rather surprising amount of time on Gru’s romantic woes. Perhaps..............................

Read More>>>>