Critics' review: Despicable Me 2 is the minions' show | Hollywood - Hindustan Times
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Critics' review: Despicable Me 2 is the minions' show

Hindustantimes.com | By, New Delhi
Jul 05, 2013 03:21 PM IST

The much-awaited sequel to the 2010 hit film Despicable Me sees Steve Carell's Gru back in action, along with the girls and of course the tiny little yellow minions but do the critics like them as much this time?

Cast: (Voices of) Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt and Russell Brand
Plot summary: Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a powerful new super criminal.
Directors: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

The much-awaited sequel to the 2010 hit film Despicable Me sees Steve Carell's Gru back in action, along with the girls and of course the tiny little yellow minions but do the critics like them as much this time?

Well, the reactions are sort of mixed but what most seem to agree on is the high adorability factor of the minions. In fact, some even felt cheated and wrote 'we don't get enough of the minions'. But you can't EVER really get enough of them, now can you?

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While the first of the franchise was a surprise hit, most critics feel this version's far tamer. Calling the sequel 'surprisingly toothless', feels Gru "has been neutered into a boring nice guy. The co-directors, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, create a seductively tactile computer-animated landscape in which gentle slapstick rules the day...The best thing in the movie is the army of chattery yellow minions who are injected with a serum that transforms them into gnashing purple beasties. " Hah! Told you.



is certainly a disappointed critic, who not only feels there isn't enough of the minions and that Gru has 'been blanded down to bad-sitcom level' but also that the daughters, adorable Agnes and practical Margo are found wanting in their essence this time. "Agnes isn't nearly as entertainingly hyper as before, and even Margo has been rendered all swoony in her first crush on a boy." He concludes, "Little kids won't be too bored, but adults who found themselves charmed by the first Despicable Me may or may not be along for the ride this time...and here's hoping Gru can be a little despicable-r next time.", however, found the sequel funnier and cuter. And he too, admits, "The real joy, however, is in the increased role of the goggle-eyed Minions, who outdo Ice Age's Scrat in the scene-stealing stakes. Voiced by the directors in babbling helium-fuelled goobledegook, these yellow weebles are comedy gold, their slapstick antics blending a simplicity of form with a complexity of expression rooted in the traditions of silent cinema."

It seems the strength of the film lies in the gags rather than the plot of the film. Keith Uhlich of Time Out writes, "With Gru’s unctuously irritable personality already established, codirectors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud let their loony imaginations run wild."

Talking about the film's script, Variety critic Peter Debruge writes, "The setup’s good for a few jokes — and writing duo Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio keep ’em coming at a steady pace — but it’s clear that much of this reformed villain’s talents are going untapped. This storyline also cleverly satisfies a second objective: devising an expanded role for the Minions without letting the little yellow scene-stealers completely abscond with the show."

Bottom line: It may not be as awesome as the first and may fall below your expectations, so don't go hoping for too much from the film and you might just enjoy the film more than the critics. We still feel you should go for the minions or you could wait till next year, when they return with their own film next year called Minions!

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