Despicable Me 2 (2013)

I never understood the appeal of Despicable Me. The yellow minions were a little cute and there were the occasional funny and emotional moments, but I found the movie to be completely bland and unremarkable as a whole. Rarely does a sequel ever successfully meet the standards set by the original and if anything, with an ending as conclusive and satisfying as the one to Despicable Me, it's clear a sequel was made solely because Universal Pictures couldn't resist raking in the first movie's $251 million dollar domestic box office gross yet again. If I haven't made it obvious enough already, I walked into the movie theater almost reluctantly and with almost zero expectations. Unfortunately, the movie met my expectations in almost every single way, and I mean this in the most disappointing way possible.

Despicable Me 2 was essentially a worse version of the original. At least the first movie successfully managed to tug at my heartstrings a bit towards the end, and while the sequel does have its moments, it's just nowhere nearly as good. Gru, the former criminal mastermind turned father, is recruited to help Lucy, from the Anti-Villain League, find the villain responsible for using the mutagen, PX-41, to turn even the most harmless of fluffy bunnies into indestructible killing machines. Working together as undercover bakery owners at a mall where every shop owner is considered suspect, the inevitable happens: Gru and Lucy fall in love. It's a little heartwarming because everyone in the movie realizes that Gru's adopted daughters are in need of a mother, even the girls, who take it upon themselves to set up an online dating profile for the guy, but again, this plot is no where near as inspired as that of the first movie. The movie's full of one-liners that are kind of funny, but not funny enough to make me laugh.

If it weren't for the minions, who play a bigger role than ever in this sequel, this movie would not have the same appeal that it did. Scientific studies show that 80% of the movie's audience watched the sequel solely for the minions (only half-joking, of course). It's no surprise Universal is making a spinoff dedicated solely to those adorable yellow creatures.

While Despicable Me 2 was cute and funny, it was not cute and funny enough to warrant spending $11.50 for a ticket. Save your money for something better (like Monsters University, for example).