Despicable Me 2

Rating: 1 1/2 Shurikens

I enjoyed the first Despicable Me very much, and I couldn't wait to see what the sequel would be like. I am a sucker for a good cartoon movie, although theatrical animation these days is way beyond cartoons. Steve Carrell does very well as an animated character's voice, always making his voice intonations match what the character is doing. He reprises his role of Gru, the evil super-villain, who once stole the moon from the sky.

Kristen Wiig is the voice of Lucy, who works as an agent of the AVL, or Anti-Villain League. She kidnaps Gru and takes him to meet with the head of her organization, to recruit him into a mission to find the thief of a secret mutating formula. After he reluctantly agrees, he opens a cupcake shop in the mall where he meets Eduardo, who reminds him of another villain from the past, El Macho, voiced by Benjamin Bratt. Eduardo owns a Mexican restaurant.

Of course, there are the three cute girls, the oldest being Margo, who is very mature for her age, and played by the voice of Miranda Cosgrove. Agnes is the youngest, played by Elsie Fisher, and Edith is the middle one, voiced by Dana Gaier. Dr. Nefario, played by Russell Brand, is still working in Gru's underground hideout supervising the numerous little yellow Minions in the development of a line of jams and jellies. As the results are less than stellar, Dr. Nefario decides to quit and go find some more sinister villain to work for. I'm not a big fan of Russell Brand, as he plays a stupid guy really poorly, or is in movies that are all about how funny it is to be stoned or drunk.

There are a few laughs, but I will get straight to the point. I should have taken a clue from the previews, which show the Lucy character saying "lipstick taser!" and kicking up one heel. Whenever Lucy is on the screen, the whole thing becomes laborious, and the voice does not inject any emotion into the character. My impression is that Wiig is sitting a little too close to the microphone, and that she isn't really watching what is going on as she voices her part. She has been the voice of animated characters before, such as in How to Train your Dragon, and also the first Despicable Me, so she should have some experience.

The minions are also way overplayed, in situations that lack anything funny about them. The only real funny parts are right when Dr. Nefario decides to strike out on his own, and when Gru is trying to keep Margo from getting to close to Eduardo's son. The character of Edith is actually very cute, but is only in the movie for about three minutes.

I was disappointed by Despicable Me 2. I actually should have gone to see something else, but I have homework to do, as it were. My recommendation is to wait for the video comes out, and then goes on clearance sale. There are many better movies to be seen, and I give this one a rating of one and a half Shurikens, mostly on  the portrayal of Gru by Steve Carrell, and a couple of laughs, but way too much stupidity to be funny.