The first of these animated films was cute, with villain Gru trying to steal the Moon but instead learning that building a happy family is more important.  It bugged me that its message seemed to be that caring for children will make anyone happy (I don’t have kids, never having felt the need), but it was still a cute movie.  Its most appealing feature were its Minions, the little yellow guys with their own language which have become ubiquitous since 2010.

The Minions are back and take center stage in Despicable Me 2, which has retired villain Gru recruited to learn how and why someone has stolen an entire Arctic laboratory.  Gru, pressed by his adopted children, begins to develop romantic feelings for agent Lucy Wilde, and things progress rather obviously from there.  This film’s moral seems to be that having a wife is just as important as having kids, and having all of them together is the greatest situation of all.  That’s fine, but it seems to me to be a little out of place in a modern fantasy adventure movie, especially because these sentiments completely overwhelm its flimsy story.

Filmmakers Pierre Louis Padang Coffin and Chris Renaud offer a palette of bright colors, nicely paced action, unique-looking characters and a steady patter of clever dialogue, yet their movie remains uninspired throughout.  A lengthy subplot involving undercover work at a mall is boring and turning Gru into a super-protective parent at the tiniest hint of trouble for his kids is exasperating.  The climax is explosive but to no real purpose; ultimately this is just a bunch of silly nonsense.  Many animated films are, ultimately, silly nonsense, but at least they are fun.  This one is not, and I cannot recommend it.  ☆ 1/2.  13 August 2013.