Call it minion fatigue, or a sequel reduced to repetition and conventionality, but something about Despicable Me 2 fell completely flat for me. It may be because I saw it after Halloween, when everyone and their cat had dressed up as a minion. It could also be because the first one was such a surprise to me in its shrewd take on the stock villain caricature that was impossible to repeat. I try to avoid thinking that any movie inherently must be a one-off standalone feature, but it’s awfully tempting with this one.
To call Despicable Me 2 a disservice to its brand would likely be false, as audiences seemed to enjoy it and it has made almost a billion dollars worldwide. The animation and visual gags are still fun to watch and the minions are fun just to look at, within reason. It’s clear, though, from the upcoming spinoff film due out in 2015 titled Minions, that Gru’s henchmen are the real focus of the team behind the Despicable Me franchise.
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