Despicable Me 2

Plot

A mysterious aircraft steals a highly potent mutagen known as PX-41 from a laboratory in the Arctic Circle. Silas Ramsbottom, director of the Anti-Villain League (AVL), sends agent Lucy Wilde to recruit former supervillain Gru, who is forcibly brought to their headquarters and asked to help them track down the culprit and recover the mutagen. However, Gru refuses and informs Silas and Lucy that he has enough responsibilities as a father and as the owner of a jelly-producing business. Later, Dr. Nefario, Gru's assistant, quits to accept a job offer to assist another villain, convincing Gru to work with the AVL after all. He and Lucy are partnered and stationed at a shopping mall, with a cupcake store as their front.

Gru immediately suspects that Mexican restaurant owner Eduardo Pérez might be "El Macho", a supervillain who was presumed dead after riding a shark into an active volcano with two hundred fifty pounds of dynamite strapped to his chest 20 years ago. That night, Gru and Lucy break into Eduardo's restaurant, but find no evidence linking Eduardo with villainy. Meanwhile, Gru's three adopted daughters, Margo, Edith and Agnes, who dream of having a mother one day, believe that Gru will eventually fall in love with Lucy, which Gru denies, saying his relationship with Lucy is only professional.

Despite holding Eduardo as his prime suspect, Gru agrees to pursue other leads, including the shop of wig merchant Floyd Eaglesan, where Lucy discovers traces of the mutagen. After witnessing Eduardo's son Antonio woo Margo, Gru renews his focus on Eduardo, who in turn invites the family to his Cinco de Mayo party. Gru's neighbor, Jillian, sets him up on a blind date with her friend Shannon. The date goes awry, with Shannon attempting to remove Gru's wig, but Lucy saves Gru from embarrassment by tranquilizing Shannon; Lucy helps Gru escape and the two begin to bond. The next day, the AVL arrests Floyd after finding a nearly empty jar of the mutagen in his shop. Despite Floyd's protest of being framed, Ramsbottom then closes the investigation and reassigns Lucy to Australia, leaving Gru heartbroken.

At the party, Gru follows Eduardo and discovers that he is indeed El Macho. Having faked his death and with Nefario as his assistant, El Macho has kidnapped most of Gru's Minions and used the mutagen to mutate them into purple mindless and indestructible monsters, intent on using them to conquer the world. El Macho offers Gru the chance to team up with him, but Gru becomes terrified and leaves with his daughters, including Margo, who was recently dumped by Antonio. Suspicious, El Macho sends one of the mutated Minions, Kevin, after them.

Lucy, having decided to disobey orders and return home, arrives at the party right after Gru leaves. Realizing that Gru and Lucy are working for the AVL, El Macho holds Lucy hostage; this is witnessed by Nefario, who subsequently informs Gru of the situation. Gru infiltrates El Macho's fortress with the help of two Minions in disguise, but the mutated Minions discover and attack them. Meanwhile, Kevin sneaks into Gru's house and attacks Margo and Agnes. They lure him to Gru's lab, where Nefario arrives with an antidote to reverse Kevin's mutation. Nefario laces Gru's jelly with the antidote. He, the girls, and the remaining Minions hurry to Gru's aid and cure the mutated Minions. El Macho, distraught, threatens to murder Lucy by sending her into the volcano where he previously faked his death and uses the mutagen himself to battle Gru, but Gru and Nefario defeat him.

Gru attempts to free Lucy from the rocket she is tied to, but El Macho's pet chicken, Pollito, activates it. Before the rocket enters the volcano, Lucy accepts Gru's invitation for a date and they jump into the ocean to escape. Months later, after going on 147 dates, Gru and Lucy get married, and Lucy becomes the girls' adoptive mother.

Voice cast

• Steve Carell as Gru, a former supervillain-turned-father and later a member of the Anti-Villain League (AVL)
• Kristen Wiig as Lucy Wilde, an AVL agent and Gru's love interest and later wife
• Benjamin Bratt as Eduardo Pérez / El Macho, the owner of Salsa & Salsa – a Mexican restaurant at Paradise Mall – and the perpetrator of the PX-41 mutagen's theft. Al Pacino was originally cast in the role and had recorded all his lines, but he eventually left the movie due to creative differences
• Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario, Gru's elderly gadget man and sidekick
• Miranda Cosgrove as Margo, the eldest of Gru's three adopted girls
• Dana Gaier as Edith, the middle of the three girls
• Elsie Fisher as Agnes, the youngest of the three girls
• Steve Coogan as Silas Ramsbottom, the director of the AVL
• Ken Jeong as Floyd Eaglesan, the owner of Eagle Hair Club, a wig store at Paradise Mall
• Nasim Pedrad as Jillian, Gru's irritating matchmaking neighbor who wants him to date her friends
• Kristen Schaal as Shannon, Jillian's superficial friend
• Moisés Arias as Antonio Pérez, El Macho's son and Margo's love interest
• Pierre Coffin as the Minions. According to Coffin, he lent his voice to eight hundred ninety-nine of them

Other cast members include Chris Renaud as additional Minions and an Italian waiter, Vanessa Bayer as a flight attendant, and Nickolai Stoilov as the Arctic lab guards.

Production

Development

Development of Despicable Me 2 began following the unexpected financial success of Despicable Me (2010). In June 2011, Universal announced that the sequel would be released on July 3, 2013. Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination Entertainment, confirmed in February 2012 that they had started working on the film. An idea featuring the Minions with superpowers was cut, so the filmmakers decided to use the evil versions of them instead; it was later used in Despicable Me 4 (2024).

Casting

In October 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Javier Bardem was negotiating to voice a villain, named El Macho, but the negotiations failed. By February 2012, Al Pacino had joined the cast to voice the villain. In April 2012, producers confirmed that Steve Carell, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher were returning to reprise their roles. Kristen Wiig, who voiced Miss Hattie in the first film, voices Lucy Wilde, an agent of the Anti-Villain League who recruits Gru to track and take down a tough, Mexican villain named El Macho. Steve Coogan joined the cast as Silas Ramsbottom, the head of the Anti-Villain League.

In May 2013, producers announced that Al Pacino had left the film over creative differences about how his character should come to life. At the time of his departure, Pacino's character had already been fully voiced and animated. Chris Meledandri, producer of the film, admitted that he was not "aware of any of the major animated films of the last 15 years that has brought an actor in at such a late stage". Due to the finished animation, Bratt had to match his timing exactly to the character's mouth movement. Initially, during his five-day recording, His work was commended by Variety, saying: "You'd never guess he wasn't the filmmakers' first choice."

Animation

The animation was handled by Illumination Mac Guff in Paris using Autodesk Maya, over 400 artists worked on the sequel, in contrast of the team of 100 artists the first film required.

One of the biggest challenges for the animation team was creating visual effects (such as water and jelly), which led to the crashing and replacement of some of the studio's drives.

Music

Main article: Despicable Me 2 (soundtrack)

Following the success of the predecessor's music, the composers, Heitor Pereira and Pharrell Williams collaborated again for the music of Despicable Me 2. The soundtrack to the film, titled Despicable Me 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on July 2, 2013, through Back Lot Music. The album featured eight songs and 16 score tracks, combining for 24 tracks in the album. The songs consisted of three original and five incorporated tracks, and two of the songs were already featured in its predecessor.

Williams' original song "Happy" was the only single from the album, released five months after the film's release, on November 21, 2013. It was accompanied by a 24-hour music video upon release, a first for any film, which received a viral response, contributing to the song's global success. It topped the charts in over 19 countries, became the best-selling song in United Kingdom and United States, with over 1.5 and 6.45 million copies sold in 2014, and was nominated for Best Original Song at the 86th Academy Awards.

The soundtrack additionally debuted at US Billboard 200 in number 86, while also featured at the Independent Albums (number 19) and Top Soundtracks (top-three) charts. It also listed in Official Charts Company's Compilation Chart (number 48) and Soundtracks Chart (number 8). A single "Just a Cloud Away" released on March 25, 2022, eight years after the film and soundtrack release.

Marketing and release

In March 2013, a blimp dressed to appear as a Minion, named "Despicablimp", in which Universal and Van Wagner Communications owns an American Blimp Corporation A-150 model, traveled through the United States for a 20000 mi tour to promote the film's release. As one of the largest airships in the world, it measured 165 ft in length, 55 ft in height, and weighed 8000 lb. Universal Pictures partnered the film with licensing and promotional partners valued at an unprecedented $200–$250 million in the next three years. One of the partners was McDonald's, which included in its Happy Meals various Minion toys, some of them unique to a specific country. To take advantage of banana-loving Minions, Chiquita ran various sweepstakes, and a Minion, voiced by Pierre Coffin, performed the song "Chiquita Banana" in the film. and Hasbro made special games. The campaign featured 600 toy brands. As a promotional tie-in, Despicable Me: Minion Rush was released.

Despicable Me 2 debuted on June 5, 2013, at Event Cinemas in Bondi Junction, Sydney, Australia, followed by a premiere on June 12, at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. In the United States, the film's premiere took place on June 22, at the Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, and was released in theaters on July 3. It was digitally re-mastered into IMAX 3D format and released in select international IMAX theaters.

As with the first film, which did not have a theatrical release in China, the film's distributor Universal Pictures had troubles releasing the sequel. When it was reported in July 2013 that the film had been denied a theatrical release in China, then the second-largest film market in the world, some analysts attributed this to the protection of locally produced animation. There were also rumors that the film's release was banned in China because the film's minions too much resembled former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. In fact, there was reportedly a "commercial conflict" between Universal and Edko Films, the film's local distributor, over which titles are to be imported. Edko had decided that the film "would not do well in China and decided against using one of the precious quota slots for the film."

Home media

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Despicable Me 2 for digital download on November 26, 2013, and on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and DVD on December 10. Physical copies contain an audio commentary; behind-the-scenes featurettes, such as characterizations of Gru, his girls, the gadgets, the Minions, the evil Minions and El Macho; deleted scenes; an overview of Gru's equipment; short films Puppy, Panic in the Mailroom, and Training Wheels; and a visit in Illumination Studios Paris. A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released in 2017.

Reception

Box office

Despicable Me 2 earned $368 million in the United States and Canada and $602.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $971 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $394.5 million, placing it third on their list of 2013's "Most Valuable Blockbusters". With a budget of $76 million, the film is the most profitable film in the 101-year history of Universal.Multiple sources:

In the United States and Canada, Despicable Me 2 was released with The Lone Ranger on July 3, 2013, leading into the Independence Day holiday weekend. It earned $35 million on its first day, including $4.7 million from Tuesday night previews. The film made $24.5 million the following Thursday, the third-highest-ever total for the holiday behind Spider-Man: Far From Home ($25.1 million in 2019) and Transformers ($29 million in 2007). Despicable Me 2 debuted earning $142.1 million across 3,957 theaters, and grossed $82.5 million on its three-day opening weekend. Its second-weekend earnings dropped by 49% to $43 million, edging Grown Ups 2 and Pacific Rim. before being dethroned in its third week by The Conjuring. Despicable Me 2 completed its theatrical run in the United States and Canada on January 16, 2014.

Worldwide, on its first weekend, Despicable Me 2 opened only in Australia with $6.66 million, ahead of Monsters University (2013) which opened on the same weekend. The film set an opening-day record in Latvia. In total, it opened at number one in 67 territories, and set opening-weekend records among animated films in Latin America, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Lebanon, as well as opening-weekend records among all films in South Africa and Venezuela. In Japan, it topped the box office ($3.3 million) beating Elsyium (2013). The film remained in the first position at the box office for two consecutive weekends during July 2013. The film's largest openings occurred in the United Kingdom ($22.5 million), China ($15.4 million), and Mexico ($14.9 million). In total earnings, its largest markets were the United Kingdom ($72.2 million), China ($53.0 million), and Mexico ($47.7 million).

Critical response

Despicable Me 2 has an approval rating of based on professional reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of . Its critical consensus reads: "Despicable Me 2 offers plenty of eye-popping visual inventiveness and a number of big laughs." Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Stephen Whitty of The Star-Ledger gave the film three stars out of four, writing: "Not only a fun cartoon but—that rare thing—a sequel which actually improves on the original." Mary Pols of Time wrote: "As a sequel it stands level with the first film, and may have the edge on it." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone also gave it three stars out of four, saying: "Co-directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, who do Minion voices expertly, never let up on the laughs. A fart joke in 3-D may not be three times as wacky, but the high spirits of Despicable Me 2 are irresistible fun." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote positively too, saying: "Steve Carell's Slavic inflections as Gru do the trick, as before. Wiig's clever hesitations and comic timing help save the day." Tom Russo of The Boston Globe wrote: "The scope of the 'toon espionage-adventure goings-on is surprisingly limited. But the filmmakers so clearly love working on these characters, their creative joy is infectious." Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave the film three stars out of four, saying "The animation is beguiling, particularly when Lucy drives her car into the ocean, transforming it into a submarine that scoots around sharks and fish."

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "While not quite as charming or unique as the original, Despicable Me 2 comes awfully close, extending co-directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin's delightfully silly sensibility to a bit larger universe." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "While the new edition doesn’t quite catch that inspired spark, there’s still plenty to enjoy here courtesy of those zippy visuals and a pitch-perfect voice cast led by the innately animated Steve Carell."

However, there was criticism, even from those who liked the movie. Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film three stars out of four, saying: "It's a credit that the writing can be so funny in the moment, that it takes time to realize there's no cohesive story, zero dramatic tension and nary a practical lesson for either the characters in the film or the people watching in the theater." Soren Anderson of The Seattle Times gave it two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing: "It's fun. It's cheerful. It's lollipop colorful. Best of all, it features lots of minion mischief, which guarantees plenty of laughs. But what it doesn't have is an edge." Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of five, saying: "It is consistently diverting and so cute you'll want to pet it. Yet it is also weightless and lacks a center."

Among the negative reviews, Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the movie two-and-a-half stars out of five, writing: "If you're looking for quality prepackaged, predigested Hollywood family fun this summer, you could do a lot worse than Despicable Me 2." Alonso Duralde of TheWrap also wrote negatively, saying: "The minions are still wacky scene-stealers—and once again, we don't get nearly enough of them—but Gru and his daughters have been blanded down to bad-sitcom level."

Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film two stars out of four, saying: "With its predecessor having made a whopping $540 million globally, it's no wonder that Universal saw fit to order a sequel. But it's not enough just to trot out legions of minions and cobble together a plot. Audiences deserve more imagination and inventiveness than this wan recycling." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a 'C' grade, saying "By the end, every child in the audience will want his or her own monster-minion toy. Adults will just regret the way that Despicable Me 2 betrays the original film's devotion to bad-guy gaiety." A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club also gave it a 'C' grade, writing: "What's missing—and this was the crucial component of part one—is a little sour to undercut the sweet. Like its protagonist, a bad guy gone boringly good, Despicable Me 2 has no edge. It's fatally nice and insufficiently naughty."

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades received by Despicable Me 2{{!}}List of accolades received by ''Despicable Me 2''

At the 86th Academy Awards, Despicable Me 2 received nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. Among the film's nominations include ten Annie Awards (winning one), a British Academy Film Award, two Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.

Sequels and prequels

Following the box-office take of Despicable Me 2, it enabled any additional Despicable Me film to improve the franchise's success. Spin-off prequels Minions (2015), Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), and Minions 3 (2026); and sequels Despicable Me 3 (2017) and Despicable Me 4 (2024) have been released.

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