<Review by: Daylynn DeSouza>

Directed by Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud. Starring the voice talent of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Ken Jeong, Steve Coogan, Elsie Kate Fisher, Dana Gaier, Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud (as some of the Minions!)

When I saw one of the first trailers for Despicable Me 2, my first reaction was, “Damn! They’re going to ruin another good franchise.” And, having just seen the film, I have to say I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

The girls and boys at Illumination Entertainment have done it again.

After the events of Despicable Me our protagonist Gru (Steve Carell), has quit the evil villain game and taken to being a self-employed father to his three adopted daughters Margo, Edith and Agnes. The Minions and Dr. Nefario are also playing their part to help Gru make jams and jellies for a living. Everything is perfect, until Gru gets summoned to the headquarters of the AVL (Anti-Villain League) and is asked to help them identify a new villain who has stolen a top-secret research lab from the North Pole, which was working on a chemical to transform living creatures into indestructible killing machines. It’s up to Gru and his new partner Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) to save the day.

The movie is full of laughs and you’ll find it almost impossible to go more than five minutes without chuckling while still being interested in the story that is as good as if not better than the first movie.

With Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig lending their voices to Gru and Lucy, there are times where you almost forget that the characters on screen don’t have their own voices. The same goes for the rest of the voice cast as well, although admittedly I felt Agnes (Elsie Kate Fisher) wasn’t as cute as she was in the last movie but that’s mostly due to the script and isn’t a comment on the voice acting.

Now for the thing everybody’s been waiting for me to mention: The Minions! They’re back and better than ever, they also have more screen time than they did in the last movie. So Minion lovers, you can rejoice and let them give you your Minion fix till the release of the new movie Minions in December 2014, which will have them at the centre of everything.

3D or not 3D?

Nobody hates 3D more than me. I think it’s just a cheap gimmick used to turn abysmal movies without any semblance of an interesting story or a decent plot into box-office hits, just because common folk are impressed by eye-candy and substandard 3D: Avatar and Life of Pi.

That being said, when Illumination Entertainment gets involved the 3D is anything but sub standard and more than once do you experience objects flying towards you. You even get a little bonus 3D experience during the end credits. Not watching this movie in 3D is unthinkable.

PS: Look out for all the French influences in the film…