PIERRE COFFIN, CHRIS RENAUD
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.5.
USA//, 2013. , . Screenplay by , . Produced by , . Music by , . Production Design by , . Film Editing by . Academy Awards 2013. Golden Globe Awards 2013. Washington Film Critics Awards 2013.
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 returning in the lead and as his love interest) makes it sparkle.
