Film Review: Despicable Me 2

Frankly, although the summer is filled with many adult blockbusters it is always nice to see a kid's film during this season.  From my past experience there have been many kids summer films that for me were complete failures. With Despicable Me I found it to be in between a classic kids film and a very bad kids film that parents wished they had never took their children to see in the first place.  So is Despicable Me 2 a worthy and better film than it's predecessor? I'd say yes but it's still far from a classic.

In his second outing Felonious Gru (Steve Carell) is recruited by the Anti  Villain League to track down a villain who has stolen a secret laboratory that contained a mutating chemical compound known as PX-41. There is nothing else I want to say regarding the plot in order not to spoil the story for those who have yet to see it.

One of the things I liked most about this film was the publicity and I know when I say that you are raising your eyebrow wondering what I mean.  On previous trips to the cinema this year 9 out of 10 times I would see a trailer for Despicable Me 2 and hardly any of the film was shown. The trailers just presented the overall plot of the film but not revealing anything else.  This doesn't mean that there were gobsmacking moments as the film is very predictable but it was nice to go into the cinema without knowing hardly anything about the film.

With comedies one of the biggest mistakes they do is reveal the film's best jokes, Despicable Me 2 does not fall into this trap and as a result I found myself laughing more than I was expecting.  Though I did laugh throughout the film I still wouldn't say this is the funniest kid's film I have seen.  For me the jokes were more for children and the film would now and then throw in an adult joke just to keep the parents amused.  The parts which I laughed most were the scenes where the main focus was on the minions, who are obviously the stars of both films and have both adults and children laughing together.  Having them playing a key role in the film was a smart move and I believe it's one of the reasons why I enjoyed this one more than the first Despicable Me movie.

The film does move at a fast pace, which is wise especially when the target audience are mainly children.  The film tries to have heart , which include Gru's relationship between his children and his new co-worker Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) and these scenes work well, however they are ended quickly in order for the comical side of the film to return.  My  favourite scenes in the film all ended quickly, including one near the end where I felt the film had just got even better but disappointingly it was over very soon.

Despicable Me 2 is definitely a film that parents will find their kids laughing all the way through.  It's cute, funny and full of energy which is what a child will want to see when they are taken to the cinema.  It is by no means a classic and at times tries to find heart to the film but the gags over shadow it.  It is however, a film where you'll find yourself smiling by the end of it