DESPICABLE ME 2 DVD (2013)
SYNOPSIS: While Gru, the ex-super villain is adjusting to family life and an attempted honest living in the jam business, a secret Arctic laboratory is stolen. The Anti-Villain League decides it needs an insider's help and recruits Gru in the investigation. Together with the eccentric AVL agent, Lucy Wilde, Gru concludes that his prime suspect is the presumed dead super villain, El Macho, whose his teenage son is also making the moves on his eldest daughter, Margo. Seemingly blinded by his over protectiveness of his children and his growing mutual attraction to Lucy, Gru seems on the wrong track even as his minions are being quietly kidnapped en masse for some malevolent purpose.
MOVIE REVIEW:
It’s official. The popularity of the minions have successfully taken over the Despicable Me franchise despite the fact that the sequel is about the continuing adventures of former villain turned father, Gru (Steve Carell) and the his three cute adopted daughters.
The clever marketing has relied heavily on the yellow, gibberish mouthing and banana-loving creatures that no one is paying attention to the plot which has Gru being approached by the head of Anti-Villain League to sniff out a super villain known as “El Macho” (Benjamin Bratt). Partnering with AVL agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), Gru and Lucy disguises as owners of a bakery in a shopping mall and their main suspect is a Mexican restaurant owner Eduardo Perez. Will the duo manage to stop the usage of a powerful mutagen which can turn any living organisms into aggressive monsters?
Truth to be told, Despicable Me 2 retains the charm and adventures of the first but this time round, devoting more screentime to the lovable minions with their side-splitting gags. On the other hand, Gru’s over protective of the now teenage Margo (Miranda Gosgrove) and his outrageous disguise as a fairy princess on Agnes’s birthday bash shows the extent of his love and dottiness to his daughters. Gru is no longer concern with his villainous plans such as stealing the moon etc and the screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio portrays Gru and the girls with so much tender loving realism that it makes all of us fall in love with the human characters once again.
The other two major voice actors, Kristen Wiig and Benjamin Bratt adds much laughter to their characters with Lucy being a comparable sidekick and also a potential love interest for Gru while Bratt (a last minute replacement for Al Pacino who left the project due to creative differences) did a marvelous job as the outrageous El Macho. Add to it the James Bond sort of premise with its galore of gadgetries and automobiles in eye-popping colors, the 98 minutes animation never loosen for a moment and entirely hilarious for the whole family.
But the crucial point as to why Despicable Me is so widely received lies in the minions as they again indulge in cross-dressing, silly ramblings and yes, produced their version of the 90’s hit, I Swear that will leaves you chuckles in delight. Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, the voices behind the hundreds of minions as well have scored a home run for the second time. Be patient, the minions are getting their own feature-length movie next year.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Gru’s Girlsis 5 minutes segment that interviews the young actresses that voiced Margo, Edith and Agnes.
Another short 4 minutes feature, Gadget’s Galore delves into the various zany weapons liked lipstick taser used in the movie.
The two directors shared such wonderful chemistry that their lively commentary track here boasts plenty of informative nuggets, inside jokes, aborted ideas (where do the minions come from) etc in Commentary with Directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The sound mix is incredible for an animation, bursting at the seams with powerful bass. Pharrell Williams' music and dialogue is crisp and clear. The picture quality is dazzling with details and colors, hardly a concern at all.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
