Despicable Me 2

Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

Overview

A mysterious criminal mastermind has stolen one of the pyramids in Egypt, sparking a fit of jealous envy in evil genius Gru (Steve Carell), who hasn't managed to make headlines since he and his minions swiped the Times Square JumboTron years back. Ever since Gru was a little boy, he dreamed of going to the moon. Now, if Gru can just build a rocket and get his hands on a powerful shrink-ray, he can cement his reputation as the greatest thief who ever lived by stealing the Earth's satellite right out of the sky. But immediately after Gru heists the shrink-ray, the cunning super-nerd Vector (Jason Segel) swoops in and snatches it right out of his hands. Now, in order to claim the moon, Gru must first reacquire the weapon from Vector. Armed with the knowledge that his nemesis has a mean sweet tooth, Gru adopts cookie-selling orphans Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Elsie Fisher), and Edith (Dana Gaier) and commissions a new line of cookie robots from the evil Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), his personal weapons specialist. But as Gru and his diminutive yellow minions prepare to carry out the biggest heist in history, something strange happens. Gru discovers that the three little girls who have come into his life are much more than simple pawns. They actually seem to care about Gru, and it turns out the scheming evildoer makes a pretty good father. When Gru realizes that his upcoming moon mission clashes with a ballet performance by the girls, he must decide what's more important -- being a present parent or cementing his nefarious reputation once and for all.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/10/2013
UPC:	0025192123610
Original Release:	2013
Rating:	PG
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:38:00
Sales rank:	21,963

Special Features

Gru's girls; Gadgets galore; Feature commentary

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Steve Carell	Gru
Kristen Wiig	Lucy
Benjamin Bratt	Eduardo/El Macho
Miranda Cosgrove	Margo
Russell Brand	Dr. Nefario
Ken Jeong	Floyd
Steve Coogan	Silas
Elsie Fisher	Agnes
Dana Gaier	Edith
Moises Arias	Antonio
Nasim Pedrad	Jillian
Kristen Schaal	Shannon
Pierre Coffin	Stuart the Minion
Chris Renaud	Italian Waiter
Nickolai Stoilov	Arctic Lab Guards
Vanessa Bayer	Flight Attendant
Sarah Kunze	Voices
Sonya Kraus	Voices
Ava Acres	Voices
Lori Alan	Voices
Eva Bella	Voices
Georgia Cook	Voices
John Cygan	Voices
Debi Derryberry	Voices
Jess Harnell	Voices
Danny Mann	Voices
Mona Marshall	Voices
Mickie McGowan	Voices
Mason McNulty	Voices
Alec Medlock	Voices
Laraine Newman	Voices
Al Pacino	Voices
Heitor Pereira	Composer
Pharrell Williams	Composer

Technical Credits

Cinco Paul

Ken Daurio

Cinco Paul	Screenwriter
Ken Daurio	Screenwriter
Chris Meledandri	Producer
Janet Healy	Producer
Carter Goodrich	Character Design
Eric Guillon	Character Design
Christopher Scarabosio	Sound/Sound Designer
Jon Borland	Sound Effects
E.J. Holowicki	Sound Effects
Mac Smith	Sound Effects

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Despicable Me 2
1. Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
4. Scene 4
5. Scene 5
6. Scene 6
7. Scene 7
8. Scene 8
9. Scene 9
10. Scene 10
11. Scene 11
12. Scene 12
13. Scene 13
14. Scene 14
15. Scene 15
16. Scene 16
17. Scene 17
18. Scene 18
19. Scene 19
20. Scene 20

Menu

Disc #1 -- Despicable Me 2
Play
Scenes
Bonus
Gru's Girls
Gadgets Galore
Feature Commentary with Directors Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin
Commentary: On
Commentary: Off
Setup
Spoken Language
English 5.1
Español 5.1
Français 5.1
DVS (Descriptive Video Service)
Feature Commentary with Directors Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin
Subtitles
English SDH
Español
Français
Subtitles: Off
Previews
Despicable Me
ParaNorman
Hop
Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess
Monster High: Ghouls Rule
Saige Paints the Sky
The Lorax
Play All

Editorial Reviews

Back in 2010, it was a battle of the baddies at the box office as Despicable Me's chrome-domed Gru took on big-headed Megamind to determine which of the diabolical supervillains had the biggest heart. Three short years later, with no Megamind sequel in sight, proud papa Gru seems to have won the battle by default in Despicable Me 2, a vivacious sequel that's effortlessly entertaining despite its notably diminished stakes. Once upon a time, Gru (voice of Steve Carell) dreamt of stealing the moon -- these days he's a single adoptive father of three precocious girls. Having given up his spectacular life of crime, Gru now aims to produce a delicious new line of jams with the help of his tiny minions and his old pal Dr. Nefario (voice of Russell Brand). Feeling unfulfilled in his newfound role as a jam-maker, Dr. Nefario announces that he will be departing for more evil pastures just as Gru is approached by the Anti-Villain League to capture the mysterious culprit who just stole a top-secret research lab filled with PX 41 -- an experimental serum with the strength to transform harmless animals into ravenous monsters. The AVL is certain that the culprit is covering his tracks by posing as a small-business owner at a local mall, and assign their best agent Lucy (Kristen Wiig) to aid Gru in identifying him. Meanwhile, Gru's oldest adopted daughter Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) falls for rebellious teen Antonio (Moises Arias), the leather-jacketed son of boisterous Mexican cantina owner Eduardo (Benjamin Bratt). Now, with Gru's paternal instincts kicking into full gear just as a dastardly plot begins to unfold, the devoted new father must divide his time between saving the world from an enigmatic supervillain, and saving Margo from total heartbreak. All the while, a suitable mother for the girls may have been standing right under Gru's pointy nose the entire time. In Despicable Me, we watched in delight as a scoundrel with global ambitions had his heart melted by three adorable little orphans. Only a few years have passed since Gru kissed his criminal instincts goodbye, and in the opening scenes of this sequel, screenwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul make a point to show us what an adoring father he's become. The result is a string of lighthearted, well-timed gags as Gru throws a princess birthday party for young Agnes, and gets swept off to AVN headquarters by quirky agent Lucy. Colorful and energetic, these early scenes strike the same affectionately comic tone that made the first film a box-office hit. Those good vibes continue as Gru reluctantly begins dating in a bid to find the girls a suitable mother, and starts snooping around the mall with Lucy in hopes of finding the secret serum stash. It's around this point that we begin to realize that the writers have opted to reign in the scope to focus on character interaction, and who could blame them for not wanting to try and top a plot about stealing the moon? Yes, Despicable Me 2 may be much smaller in scale than its predecessor, but it's no less fun as we watch Gru unwittingly fall in love while piecing together the various clues in the PX 41 mystery. Although it could be argued that Daurio and Paul misstep in not revealing the villain's identity a bit sooner, an abundance of sight gags involving the minions confirm that tension was never a priority here, making memorable use of the boisterous yellow blobs as the story unfolds at a leisurely pace. Of course, for those who savored Carell's gleefully over-the-top voice work in the previous outing, the focus on characters will only serve to double your enjoyment this time around, even if it often feels like precious little is at stake. Once the focus of the story shifts to Gru and Lucy's efforts to stop a disaster from unfolding, the writers do a fairly ingenious job of turning one of the series' most popular attractions into a threat that's as funny as it is frightening, but it's the winning vocal performances and the upbeat tone that make this slightly-lesser sequel highly watchable regardless. For cynics and detractors, it may at time feel like this sequel exists for nothing more than to push the film's most marketable characters front and center. By the time the credits roll even fans will likely recognize that the potential for this series has been exhausted, but ask them if it was a fun ride along the way and odds are they'll simply wring their hands and grin.