Despicable Me 2 Reviews
Top CriticThis is one of those rarities, an animated sequel that improves on the original.
Co-directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, who do Minion voices expertly, never let up on the laughs. A fart joke in 3-D may not be three times as wacky, but the high spirits of Despicable Me 2 are irresistible fun.
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| Original Score: 3/4
How do you tell a story about a bad guy who is no longer a bad guy? Despicable Me 2 embraces the dilemma and adds new ones.
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| Original Score: B
As a sequel [it] stands level with the first film (also directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud), and may have the edge on it.
[A] remarkably tepid sequel to the surprise 2010 hit ...
If you're looking for quality prepackaged, predigested Hollywood family fun this summer, you could do a lot worse than Despicable Me 2.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
"Despicable Me 2" is light on its feet, visually inventive and very fast with the repartee. It requires actors who can pull off the many peppery lines at warp speed and in that the film is lucky with its voice cast.
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| Original Score: 3.5/5
Heartfelt and hilarious, smart and silly, action-packed but never violent, "Despicable Me 2" is that rare sequel that outshines its beginnings.
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| Original Score: 4/5
The animation is beguiling, particularly when Lucy drives her car into the ocean, transforming it into a submarine that scoots around sharks and fish.
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| Original Score: 3/4
An animated sequel that, despite not achieving the inspired lunacy of the first movie where Gru literally steals the moon, is smartly calculated to deliver squeals to kids and amusement to accompanying adults.
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| Original Score: 3/4
Directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin deserve credit for not rehashing the basic ideas of their first effort, but they never really expand upon its unique universe either.
It's breezy and affable without ever going completely soft.
The scope of the 'toon espionage-adventure goings-on is surprisingly limited. But the filmmakers so clearly love working on these characters, their creative joy is infectious.
Slapstick high jinks are plentiful, though never particularly funny.
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| Original Score: 2/4
Sure, it's not as novel as the first time we were here, but directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud stay true to the clever, slapstick vibe.
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| Original Score: 3/4
"Despicable Me 2" is trying to tickle, not teach. In a marketplace full of toxic messages, that's not such a bad thing.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
Better, or at least sweeter, than the first, with Wiig adding some much-needed romantic charm to the toddler-level humor.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
[It] is consistently diverting and so cute you'll want to pet it. Yet it is also weightless and lacks a center.
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| Original Score: 2.5/5
Despicable Me 2 feels like a opportunity to get together with some old friends, hang out, and discover what they've been up to.
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| Original Score: 3/4
For an adult, the predictability could turn you blasé. For kids, revisiting these jokes is a howl. Pinkie promise.
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| Original Score: 3/4
Steve Carell's Slavic inflections as Gru do the trick, as before. Wiig's clever hesitations and comic timing help save the day.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
Neither directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, nor screenwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul try to hide much. Which isn't to say there aren't some laughs.
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| Original Score: 3/5
The minions are still wacky scene-stealers -- and once again, we don't get nearly enough of them -- but Gru and his daughters have been blanded down to bad-sitcom level.
It's a credit that the writing can be so funny in the moment, that it takes time to realize there's no cohesive story, zero dramatic tension and nary a practical lesson for either the characters in the film or the people watching in the theater.
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| Original Score: 3/4
A generally effective sequel despite a mess of structural issues.
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| Original Score: 6.3/10
The beguiling basics are still there, including the goofy gadgets and sly references to other films.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
[It's] fun. It's cheerful. It's lollipop colorful. Best of all, it features lots of minion mischief, which guarantees plenty of laughs. But what it doesn't have is an edge.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
Armed with masses of minions and an excess of adorability, "Despicable Me 2" is guaranteed to charm anyone who's out of school and already bored.
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| Original Score: 3/5
Not only a fun cartoon but - that rare thing - a sequel which actually improves on the original.
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| Original Score: 3/4
While it isn't as touching or as exuberantly funny as the original, it's a cute summer diversion for kids with just enough wink-wink slyness and cheeky cinematic asides to hold the interests of older teens and adults.
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| Original Score: 3/4
A fleeter film than its predecessor, Despicable Me 2 delights more often than it disappoints.
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| Original Score: 3/5
By the end, every child in the audience will want his or her own monster-minion toy. Adults will just regret the way that Despicable Me 2 betrays the original film's devotion to bad-guy gaiety.
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| Original Score: C
While the new edition doesn't quite catch that inspired spark, there's still plenty to enjoy here courtesy of those zippy visuals and a pitch-perfect voice cast led by the innately animated Steve Carell.
While not quite as charming or unique as the original, "Despicable Me 2" comes awfully close, extending co-directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin's delightfully silly sensibility to a bit larger universe.
