{"id":5265,"date":"2013-07-02T02:24:53","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T09:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=5265"},"modified":"2013-07-02T02:24:53","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T09:24:53","slug":"despicable-me-2-has-the-humor-and-heart-of-the-original","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=5265","title":{"rendered":"DESPICABLE ME 2 has the Humor and Heart of the Original"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A1\"<\/a>
\n\"24_0009_b-merged\"<\/a>
\nGru<\/strong> and his oddball Minions are back and still up to their same old wacked-out shenanigans. Pure shenanigans, I tell ya. It\u2019s a welcomed return as \u201cDespicable Me 2\u201d captures much of the fun and heart of the 2010 original, making it a sequel worth the ticket price.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, my enjoyment of this film was so great that I feel like a bit of a hypocrite. Just a couple weeks ago I was squirting urine and moaning about how uninspired the PIXAR sequels\/prequels have been as I stood perched high atop my soapbox and now I am telling you how another visit to the \u201cDespicable Me\u201d universe made me giddy. I feel I should clarify that I\u2019m opposed to pointless <\/i>sequels that pale next to the source material. Simple example: \u201cToy Story 3\u201d built on the previous stories and delivered an emotional and funny chapter for Woody and Buzz while \u201cCars 2\u201d simply told another story with Mater stumbling around and missed any emotional or nuanced elements. \u201cMonsters University\u201d is a \u201cMonsters Inc.\u201d prequel that removes the original\u2019s heart (baby Boo) and replaces it with a \u201cRevenge of the Nerds\u201d inspired plotline. Pointless.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDespicable Me 2\u201d matches the first film\u2019s humor and even gives us more slapstick craziness by piling on the Minions. They are everywhere in this go around and they are hysterical. \u00a0Their warped brand cartoon violence is reminiscent of Warner Bros. animation shorts that used to feature slaps to the face and bonks on the head. It\u2019s a sensibility that has been dulled down in our entertainment after a couple of decades of Political Correctness and I for one have missed this sort of humor.<\/strong>
\n\"a2\"<\/a>
\nThis time around Gru (Steve Carell) isn\u2019t really all that despicable. The bald baddie has become a full time father to the three little lovelies from the first film and is no longer a practicing super-villain. He now focuses his diabolical genius on throwing the perfect princess birthday party for Agnes (Elise Kate Fisher) and making disgusting tasting jellies and jams in his secret lair.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gru is recruited by the AVL (the Anti-Villain League) to help them catch a new mega-villain who has stolen a sinister serum that turns cute, cuddly animals into blood thirsty monsters. Gru is reluctant at first but he is further enticed by the idea of working with Lucy (Kristen Wiig), another AVL agent. After some snooping at the local mall, the duo quickly decide that this may be the work of El Macho, a very masculine villain that was thought to be dead after he rode a shark covered in explosives into a volcano. As Gru searches for serum, he might also find another missing piece of his heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s sappy stuff but this franchise has become about a lonely man who finds people in this world to share his life with. The first film brought him three adorable orphans and this one focuses on his love life. The next film wouldn\u2019t surprise me if he finds out he has a long lost brother or some such whatever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is another family-friendly flick from Illumination Entertainment that was animated from their French-based animation department. I haven\u2019t been a big fan of any of their other films (\u201cThe Lorax\u201d disappointed and \u201cHop\u201d was horrible) but they have a true winner here with the \u201cDespicable Me\u201d franchise. The animation is spectacular and they are very gifted at using 3D technology to immerse you into the movie. PAY THE SURCHARGE AND SEE THIS IN 3D. It is imperative. Illumination will follow this up with a Minion spinoff film currently called (not surprisingly) \u201cMinions\u201d that is due to come out Dec. 19, 2014. I\u2019ll be there although this may backfire. Sometimes sidekicks are best in small doses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The voice cast is stellar and reads like a Comedy All-Star Roster: Carell is charming while Wiig returns from the original as a different character (she was the mean lady who ran the orphanage in the first film). Steve Coogan joins the cast but is underused while Russell Brand reprises his Dr. Nafario. Both of the film\u2019s directors, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, voice the majority of the babble spewing Minions.<\/strong>
\n\"a4\"<\/a>
\nThe film does have some crude elements that may be inappropriate for very young children. There are a number of fart jokes and Gru spends one scene waving his groin at everything on set. You know your kids though and if you were fine with the first one, this will not offend or corrupt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s still early in the year and the competition has been weak but \u201cDespicable Me 2\u201d is currently the best animated film of the year. Of course, I still have yet to see that one about that really fast snail. My gut feeling is that this will still be at the top of the list after that one comes out. Just a guess though.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gru and his oddball Minions are back and still up to their same old wacked-out shenanigans. Pure shenanigans, I tell ya. It\u2019s a welcomed return as \u201cDespicable Me 2\u201d captures much of the fun and heart of the 2010 original, making it a sequel worth the ticket price. In fact, my enjoyment of this film […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1469,5766,11899,14009,19077,19078,19309],"class_list":["post-5265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-animation-movie-reviews","tag-despicable-me-2","tag-kristen-wiig","tag-minions","tag-steve-carrell","tag-steve-coogan","tag-summer-movies"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}