Distributor: Universal Pictures
Opening Weekend Box Office: #1 with $83,517,315
Domestic Box Office Gross to-date: $345,998,000
Gross Revenue: $781,188,000
Production Budget: $76 million
Directors:
Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
Given the universally-beloved nature of the Minions,
the wacky and undeniably good-natured henchmen were naturally going to be the
main focus of NBCUniversal’s marketing efforts for Despicable Me 2, which already boasted arguably the biggest pre-established
fan-base amongst the numerous animated entries opening during the summer
months. Seeking to squeeze every
possible penny out of that potential, Universal Pictures and Illumination
Entertainment partnered with over 100 licensing and promotional collaborators
in a media deal valued at $250 million, one which would mark the first time
that McDonald’s and General Mills have worked with Universal since 1993’s Jurassic Park. So whether it involved the more than half
billion unique sticker designs on Chiquita Bananas, the special-edition
Monopoly and Operation games, the mobile video game, the seven tie-in books, or
the six-month touring “Despicablimp,” you couldn’t turn a corner without seeing
the Minions in some form or another.
Eminem’s “Without Me” may have been a questionable track feature in a
trailer for a family film, but it nevertheless helped produce one of the most
memorable advertisements of the year and set the stage for the introduction of
the brilliant Kirsten Wiig as a romantic foil for Steve Carell. Needless to say, expectations were high for Despicable Me 2, but there was little
reason to worry; with a franchise this popular, as long as the Minions made the
occasional sight-gag, both parents and children were going to fill theaters and
sing praises regardless of critical reaction.
Similar to the exposition of its predecessor, Despicable Me 2 opens with an elaborate
crime in the Arctic Circle where a secret laboratory is stolen by a mysterious
vehicle; because the lab was experimenting with a mutagenic compound known as
PX-41, the Anti-Villain League (AVL) decides to investigate and recruit a former
super-villain in order to predict the thief’s next move. Switch focus to a familiar suburban
neighborhood and reformed criminal Felonious Gru (Steve Carell), who is happily
raising his three adopted daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana
Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher), and trying to establish a legitimate bottled
jelly venture with the help of his wacky Minions. Gru is then suddenly forcibly abducted by AVL
agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), who delivers the “evil mastermind” to league
director Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan); Ramsbottom explains that Gru and Lucy
will work undercover at The Paradise Shopping Mall, tracing the unique chemical
signature of the valuable and dangerous mutagen and identifying which merchant
is the perpetrator of the crime. Though
Gru is initially hesitant, the sudden departure of Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand)
pushes him to work with Lucy, and together the two begin to suspect restaurant
owner Eduardo Perez (Benjamin Bratt), whom Gru recognizes as the
presumed-deceased super-villain El Macho…meanwhile, someone has been secretly
abducting Minions and exposing them to PX-41, which transforms them into
purple-furred monsters. Unfortunately,
Gru soon becomes distracted by his increasing attraction to Lucy and his
over-protectiveness of the boy-crazy Margo, so by the time the truth of this
conspiracy is revealed; it may be too late for our “hero” to save his family
and his little yellow henchmen.
The team over at Universal and Illumination has
never deluded itself in regards to the main draw of the Despicable Me franchise, so thanks to that self-awareness, the
narrative devotes plenty of time and focus to the Minions, whose antics are
continuously and unfailingly hysterical.
You may be tempted to think that the focus on silly and slapstick may
eventually wear-thin, but the jokes and sight-gags delivered by the Minions are
also surprisingly clever, meaning that adults will find themselves laughing
just as hard as the youngsters who are still giggling over the 21 fart-gun
salute…and it is worth noting that the purple monster Minion story angle was a
fun and altogether brilliant evolution of the beloved characters. In terms of the voice acting, Minion
gibberish may be your most prevalent memory, but we cannot forget that Steve Carell
once again nails the Slavic-inflections of Gru, and the efficacy of his efforts
is compounded thanks to the addition of his romantic foil, Lucy. As the delightfully off-beat AVL agent,
Kristen Wiig is able to perfectly showcase her comedic timing and personality
through dialogue hesitations, resulting in one of the most original and
downright enjoyable new animated characters in recent memory. Based on these factors, Despicable Me 2 stands as an effective sequel, but closer
examination reveals that there isn’t much offered by this film beyond the
novelty of its main characters.
Make no mistake, Despicable
Me 2 delivers in spades in relation to clever laughs and a fun tone, but
once that shine and glitter wear-off, we are left with a story and themes that
fall short of this animated action comedy’s predecessor. As presented in the original, the idea of a
gleefully malevolent super-villain caving to the whims of three precocious
adopted daughters was daring and genuinely unique, but this time around, both
the villainous aspects of Gru’s personality and the overall memorability/screen
presence have been toned-down considerably, if not forgotten entirely. In fact, were it not for the developing
romance between Gru and Lucy, which benefitted greatly from Kristen Wiig’s
performance, the narrative and motivations of this movie would have been have
been stripped of almost all weight and inspiration and ultimately devolved into
little more than an excuse to see the Minions appear once again. And this may be somewhat of a cop-out
criticism, but Jason Segel’s Vector was an immensely better villain and
antagonist for Gru than this entry’s El Macho…no offense to Benjamin Bratt, but
a movie introducing something as expansive as the Anti-Villain League could
deliver something better than a character who was largely forgettable and far
too dependent on racial stereotypes in order to generate laughs. In the end, these shortcomings may prevent Despicable Me 2 from earning accolades
over some deeper animated competitors, but the lighthearted tones and altogether
funny jokes are still enough to keep mass audiences happy.
NBCUniversal’s beefy marketing campaign paid-off in
a big way; for the three-day period, Despicable
Me 2 earned $83.5 million, a total that was expanded to $143.1 million for
the five-day 4th of July Holiday Weekend. Not only do those kind of numbers represent the top five-day start for any
animated movie (just ahead of 2010’s Toy
Story 3), but they also served to further highlight the failure of Disney’s
family-focused competitor, The Lone
Ranger. Add-in foreign receipts and
an altogether impressive sophomore weekend first place repeat, and Despicable Me 2 is rapidly-approaching
the half-a-billion mark in terms of worldwide revenue…more than enough to turn
a profit even in the face of the historic marketing budget. Looking towards the future, the silly end
credits of were anything but a cruel tease for the developments set to come
down the pipeline, as the spin-off feature titled Minions has already secured the voice talents of Sandra Bullock and
announced a December 19, 2014 release date.
It may not have been the perfect summer movie, but Despicable Me 2 remains wildly entertaining and an animated entry
that will continue to have a profound impact on pop culture for many years.
Overall
Recommendation: High
