PIERRE COFFIN, CHRIS RENAUD

Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.5. 

USA/France/Japan, 2013.  Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment.  Screenplay by Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio.  Produced by Janet Healy, Christopher Meledandri.  Music by Heitor Pereira, Pharrell Williams.  Production Design by Yarrow Cheney, Eric Guillon.  Film Editing by Gregory Perler. 

Gru has been cured of his status as a supervillain, now happily producing inedible fruit jellies while joyfully throwing parties for his beloved girls. He is determined to stay on the straight and narrow, but his old life comes calling when an unknown villain steals a chemical weapon (actually they steal the whole lab that the weapon is being developed in).  A charming agent shows up at Gru’s house during a birthday party and kidnaps him, then takes him to a top-secret lair where he is informed that his skills will be needed to help save the world. With the main premise of the original film ruined by a happy ending, a sequel would, in theory, be impossible, but the focus now is on melting his cold heart even further with the complication that his kidnapper turns out to be something of a lovely prospect for his lonely soul. Even without the first film’s joke of Gru being a good guy pretending to be a bad one, there are still plenty of laughs to be had here and, while the narrative is nothing to write home about, the bright, colourful animation and inventive action sequences make up for it beautifully. The voice work (which includes Steve Carell returning in the lead and Kristen Wiig as his love interest) makes it sparkle.

Academy Award Nominations:  Best Original Song (“Happy”); Best Animated Feature

Golden Globe Award Nomination:  Best Animated Feature