Despicable Me 2 (2013) - Review

Compare this to Monsters University to see how a sequal (or prequal, for that matter) should be done.  Whereas Monsters University hit all the same, generic notes that animated movies have to hit, this one... does it too, but it's certainly funnier about it!  It doesn't hurt that this film has a much more talented cast than Monsters U, and a lot more heart to boot.

I don't remember the first film very well, but I remember liking it about as much as I liked this one.  They're good kids' movies; they're certainly nothing special.  They aren't Toy Story or The Lion King or Aladdin, but hey, very few movies ARE.  The ones I just named are, actually.  But for what it's worth, they don't really insult adults' intelligence and you can have a good time while watching it (which is more than can be said about the majority of kids' movies).

Yeah, keep laughing, buddy

The movie has its faults, of course; the plot itself isn't very interesting, there are some very blatant racial stereotypes going on, and occasionally the film does fall back on kiddy humor a bit too much for my liking.  However, the characters are actually pretty entertaining and likable and the voice cast is incredibly solid.

While this movie may not be anything special, it's certainly better than most of the childish dreck that comes out every month or two.  And sadly, that is now something to celebrate whole-heartedly rather than meeting it with a "eh, that was pretty good."