Sequel may be despicable, but it’s irresistibly nutty

adopting Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and little Agnes (Elsie Fisher), even swopping his more nefarious activities for a start-up jelly-andjam-making operation. But he soon finds himself in a stickier situation when he’s sent by the top-secret Anti-Villain League to track down the perpetrator of a fresh heist involving a ginormous electromagnet.

Setting up an undercover operation in a mall cupcake shop, Gru is reunited with AntiVillain League recruit Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig, formerly the proprietor of Miss Hattie’s Home for Girls), with his suspicions set on the gregarious owner of a Mexican restaurant (a terrific Benjamin Bratt), who bears a nagging resemblance to El Macho, a notorious villain believed to have died while riding a shark into a volcano with 100kg of TNT strapped to his chest.

It’s those sort of details that lend the Despicable Me franchise an irresistible Looney Tunesstyle nuttiness.

Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud and the writing team of Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul maintain the energy at a brisk, buoyant clip, while Carell and the rest of cast add an extra layer of dimension to those expressively drawn characters.

Also amusingly returning to the fold is Russell Brand as rickety resident mad scientist Dr Nefario, Steve Coogan as Anti-Villain League head honcho Silas Ramsbottom and Ken Jeong as Floyd Eagle-san, now the owner of a wig store.

Remember to stay to the end credits so you don’t miss out on another entertaining 3D demonstration led by a handful of those wacky minions. – The Hollywood Reporter

Despicable Me 2 FAMILY MOMENT: finds criminal mastermind Gru embracing domestic life after adopting Margo, Edith and little Agnes.

PICTURE: AP VOICES: Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig do the voices for the leads.