A Short Cut Movie Review is normally less than 400 words, but in some cases may go slightly over. This is my attempt to keep writing about as many films as I see without getting bogged down with trying to find more to say. They are meant to be brief snapshots of my reaction to a movie without too much depth.
Following the surprise hit Despicable Me from 2010 comes its sequel, which successfully
accomplishes the feat of finding new things for old characters to do in a new
movie without repeating a formula. Gru (Steve Carell) is now a retired master
villain trying to raise three little girls he adopted at the end of the last
movie.
An international spy agency, headed by Silas (Steve
Coogan), enlists his help to identify and help take down the master villain who
stole an unusual formula that can turn cute, cuddly little critters into raging
blue bundles of id. Inevitably, the formula gets applied to the minions, those
hilarious and jittery little guys who make this franchise sail.
Russell Brand returned as Gru’s assistant, Dr. Nefario,
who leaves to take an offer from another villain after failing to find
fulfillment making jams and jellies for the now-straight-shooting Gru. Kristin
Wiig also returns, although in a different role, this time as Gru’s partner in
spying, Lucy. Benjamin Bratt rounds out the voice cast as Eduardo, the owner of
a kitschy Mexican eatery in the shopping mall where Gru has to look for the
villain.
The movie was once again directed by Chris Penaud and
Pierre Coffin from a screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It handles the
spy and James Bond spoof material far better than Cars 2 did and there’s something really hilariously subversive
about staging such big action and international intrigue in a giant shopping
mall, as if to juxtapose the banality of Gru’s new life with the excitement of
his former one.
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