MOVIE REVIEW - Despicable Me 2

As much as I and most loved the original animated gem, Despicable Me, this is a premise that might have well been well enough left alone.  Before you throw something at the screen, read on. 

Seldom do I review animated flicks, because everyone who goes already loves this movie the minute they announce they are making it or they see the trailer.  DM2 seems like a good idea, after all few animated movies dealt with the realities of our real world and the fictional world as well as this. The original was remarkably charming, warm and fun you had to love every single frame.  DM2,  though has its minutes of recapturing that magic, sadly in the end, it loses most of its charm from the original.

Gru and crew are back, along with some new friends to try to breathe some new life in this, and that's fine.  Clearly the studio did much research and fans obviously said they want more of The Minions.  And you certainly get more of the funny, lovable creatures here.   Some of that is very funny.   Our lead voices are again terrific, with Steve Carrell and now Kristen Wiig are very funny as well as the supporting cast.  Plus, this is first class and stunning animation.

But it should be noted that this is in may ways very different than the original.   I am not really sure who this is made for.  My gut tells me the makers are leaving the children far behind, and targeting more later teens and young adults.   This at times is very video-gamey, and action based.  Our characters all become action heroes.   Be it with silly, animated weapons and for a common good.

Understanding that in the sequel world, you can't make the same movie over and over again, but I have to question some of the decisions made here.   There are numerous spoken references about killing.  "I'm going kill you!"   "The Minions are now thousands of killing machines!"   These are not my words, they are the movies.   This is a far, far cry from stealing the moon from the first flick.  And these are not the only references to such.  Also, there are numerous scenes of blatant disrespect of young people to older, including a teen kicking Gru in the groin from behind.   You make the call.

This movie loses much of its charm and joy from the first. This is not a wash out, but it does have the aura that maybe we should have just let this be a great and feel good movie from 2 years ago. But that seldom happens.  

Despicable Me 2.  Certainly not the original.