So I sort of did an impromptu movie review, as well as a way to make it better. Consider it "alternate film development".
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So earlier today I finished watching Despicable Me 2 with two of my younger sisters. While it's not a terrible film, there was so much more potential just waiting there.
The first film (Despicable Me) was excellent. It had good pacing, great comedic elements, and characters we could care about who grew and changed. Despicable Me 2 has almost none of that. I guess we can sort of care about Lucy Wilde (see poster above) but that's about it.
Margo's crush situation is poorly resolved, the villain is given a very plain and bland motivation, and there's very little interaction between various characters to warrant any kind of meaningful development and resolution.
I lay most of the blame at the studio. I understand that movie-making is a business, and studios have to worry about being profitable. I think they saw the popularity of the minions and decided "yeah, more of THAT." This is such a shame because the first film featured the minions but also had other humourous elements and didn't rely solely upon slapstick meant for the five year olds in the audience.
Aside from the excessive minions and slapstick, my biggest problem with this film is the characters and their motivation, or rather, lack thereof. In the first film, right after the opening scene, we spend time getting to know Gru, what he's like, where he is in life, what his problems are, what his goals are, and what his motivation is.
We see that from an early age he's incredibly smart and wants to go to the moon, as well as impress his mother and make her proud of him. We've all had dreams and wanted recognition from our parents and loved ones. Boom, we can now relate to Gru and are invested in this character. At the same time, we're meeting and getting to know the orphan girls Margo, Edith, and Agnes. They have unique personalities but all want the same thing; to escape their miserable life at the orphanage, to have a home, and a loving family.
Gru, with his modest at best crime spree, has run afoul of the "Bank of Evil" (the Lehman brothers crack was comedy gold) which he needs to fund a rocket so he can steal the moon. Halfway into this film, we've established our main characters, come to care about them, and learned their objectives and struggles. Despicable Me 2 has almost none of that.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Where is the character motivation for Gru or anyone in this movie? What is Gru's ultimate struggle and objective in this film? It's never really made clear. What's Lucy's ultimate struggle and objective in this film? Again, it's not really there. They didn't even have to get too deep and could have used simple and basic story-telling to make this movie as impressive as the first one. I list some ideas and a possible story below.
Continuity, and parallels with the first film
This would have been a good place to start. Gru, now done with villainy and fearing retribution from Mr. Perkins and the Bank of Evil, contacts the Anti-Villain League (AVL) and turns in the Bank of Evil, leading to the arrest of Mr. Perkins and the first appearance of Lucy Wilde. She and Gru banter for a bit and she suggests that he'd be good as part of the AVL team. Gru, needing work as he would have no direction since the last film, would agree to become part of the AVL. This already creates continuity and gets the characters interacting with each other.
Characters, conflict, objectives and struggles
With Gru busy with his new job, the girls are mostly left alone with the minions. We have a great opportunity here to do something with the characters. We can keep Agnes wanting a mother, because it's natural and it's something she'd see around her, and we can have Margo wanting someone to be there for her and connect with her (this brings us to Antonio, but we'll get to that in a minute), and we can have Edith (who has been practicing martial arts judging from the early scenes) want to get out there and kick villainous butt like Gru. Bam, now all our main characters have objectives and struggles and we're invested in them, and we want to see them succeed.
Gru and Lucy, being new agents, are at the bottom of the AVL and in a montage have to deal with fairly plain things, such as the Post Office/UPS of Evil, and the odd "evil" science experiment like the monster bunny we saw in Despicable Me 2. At the end of the montage, we see Gru not being happy with his new position in life, something he shares with Lucy who wants to "catch the big fish" and not just sleazy, evil bankers, mailmen, and creatures. Oh, look at that! We now have characters connecting! Aw, how cute. I'm rooting for them!
A plot that drives a story. How to make the story better
As it's made clear through animation and suggestion that Gru and Lucy may be starting to like each other, they get word of a major villain heist. It could even be the same one from the movie. As the two dash off to investigate, Margo is approached by a young boy (Antonio) who appears to be perfect. Now, in this version, we try and make him perfect and not a snotty kid like in the film. He's cute, he listens to her, he's polite, and appears to genuinely care for her. Margo is of course smitten and so she wants to impress this guy, telling him that her dad Gru is a "spy" and shows him the awesome underground lair and introduces him to the minions.
Back with Gru and Lucy, the AVL is unsure who could have pulled this heist and so put Gru and Lucy on the case since Gru is a former villain. Gru and Lucy are happy because it's a big case and if they crack it, it's smooth sailing from then on. Now our characters have motivation. Gru comes home to share the news when he spots Margo being absolutely smitten with Antonio in his lair/lab. Furious that she'd show a stranger their secrets, he scolds Margo, creating conflict between the two. Margo confronts Gru about how he's almost never there for her emotionally unlike Antonio, and storms off. Rebellious pre-teen/teenager time! That night, a shadowy and unseen figure breaks in and begins kidnapping minions, something that persists for almost the rest of the movie.
The next day, as Gru and Lucy are trying to track down the villain, it leads to them meeting Eduardo Perez, who Gru recognizes as "El Macho". Gru, having been a villain, is also recognized by El Macho. Or Eduardo as he's calling himself now. Eduardo explains that he had to retire when the Bank of Evil was busted, so he faked his death in a macho way and now runs a Mexican restaurant. Lucy and Gru suspect the villain they're looking for may be Eduardo, but he assures them he's retired from villainy, relieved at not having to constantly keep up his super macho image. He invites them to his restaurant for business and to prove to them that he's innocent.
Meanwhile, Margo, still angry, is consoled by Antonio who asked her out on a date. She accepts, and Agnes and Edith follow them to spy on them. Antonio takes Margo to the same restaurant where Gru and Lucy are eating, and it's revealed that Eduardo is Antonio's father. Eduardo invites them all to his "Cinco De Mayo" party. All three girls meet Lucy for the first time, with Lucy coming to Margo's "aid" in the dating department, creating some kind of connection between Margo and Lucy. Lucy also comments on Edith's "stealth" abilities in being able to follow her sister undetected, which makes Edith beam with pride and demonstrate some of her ninja moves (when we see in the OTL Despicable Me 2, but are never used to effect). Lucy then shows Edith some of her own martial arts moves (that were seen in the OTL movie), which Edith finds cool, creating a connection between Edith and Lucy. Agnes could trip and Lucy could tend to her, causing at least some kind of connection between Agnes and Lucy. BOOM! Now the kids have a connection with this character and could realistically begin to care about her and her well-being.
That night, the girls pester Gru about getting serious with Lucy as they sing her praises. Margo finds her understanding, Edith finds her cool, and Agnes finds her motherly, expressing her desire to have a mother, especially considering the upcoming mother's day recital (mentioned in OTL movie but again, never seen). After the girls go to sleep, Gru meets up with Lucy to break into Eduardo's restaurant to make sure he's not hiding anything, and the shadowy figure returns to steal more minions.
The next day, Gru and Lucy continue their investigation. This part of the movie was also okay, with the framing of Floyd Eaglesan and the seeming "case closed". It turns out that Lucy got a promotion and is being sent to Australia, whereas Gru will stay in America. To celebrate their success and to see each other off one last time, they make a date out of Eduardo's "Cinco De Mayo" party/fiesta. At the fiesta, Margo searches for Antonio, but he's nowhere to be found initially, appearing a few minutes later after Edith and Agnes try to get Gru and Lucy more together. Antonio appears, and invites Margo to dance.
Eduardo calls everyone's attention to thank them for coming to his fiesta, and all the adults drink. All the adults, including Eduardo, Gru and Lucy pass out from a drug in the "adult drinks". Only the kids are unaffected. It is at this point in time that Antonio is revealed to be the villain all along. Plot twist!
Antonio explains that he got close to Margo because he knew about Gru from his father, and so getting close to her meant knowing how to get into the house and begin stealing minions for his army. The early Gru/Lucy cases involving rabid mutant evil animals, were Antonio's earliest experiments with the formula seen in the OTL movie. The minions were to help create Antonio's army of minions. Margo is devastated and hurt that she was used (something that happened in the first film as well but is NEVER addressed).
When asked why he did this, Antonio explains that it was for his father. The Bank of Evil was helping them live a good life, but Gru's interference change his life and effectively ended the career of his father whom he idolized. Hey! Look! We now have a somewhat complex villain with clear motivation, goals and depth! Awesome!
Margo, Edith, and Agnes now have to stop Antonio from hurting Gru and Lucy. They manage to escape and return home where they acquire the antidote (something the AVL would conceivably give to Gru and Lucy to help their earlier cases). Edith dons her ninja gear, Margo grabs the antidote and Gru's freeze ray, and Agnes grabs her unicorn because "d'aww, ain't she cute and silly"?
Back at the fiesta locale, Gru and Lucy awake to Antonio and his army of minions, where Antonio explains everything. How he used Margo to get close to Gru and his minions, how he framed Floyd Eaglesan, and how he intends to use his minion army as a threat to get money and restore villainy to the family. As Antonio preps his minion army, Gru and Lucy admit their feelings for each other.
Meanwhile, Edith sneaks in and opens the main gate for Margo and Agnes, making their way to Gru and Lucy with a combination of ninjustu, antidote, and freeze ray. This is the big climax, and a parallel of sorts from the first film. While Gru had to rescue the girls in the first film, now it's the girls who have to rescue Gru. Margo eventually confronts Antonio, saying "freeze ray" as she freezes him. With the minions back to normal and Gru and Lucy saved, there's a "big happy family" moment, and some redemption for the villain as he's confronted/consoled/reassured/scolded by his father Eduardo.
About a year later, Gru and Lucy are getting married, and with them working for the AVL and the kids being capable of saving them, it sets up a possible third film for the whole family being crime-fighters who take down villains.
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There was so much wasted opportunity with this film, and it's been bugging me so I blasted this out once babysitting duties were over.
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So earlier today I finished watching Despicable Me 2 with two of my younger sisters. While it's not a terrible film, there was so much more potential just waiting there.
The first film (Despicable Me) was excellent. It had good pacing, great comedic elements, and characters we could care about who grew and changed. Despicable Me 2 has almost none of that. I guess we can sort of care about Lucy Wilde (see poster above) but that's about it.
Margo's crush situation is poorly resolved, the villain is given a very plain and bland motivation, and there's very little interaction between various characters to warrant any kind of meaningful development and resolution.
I lay most of the blame at the studio. I understand that movie-making is a business, and studios have to worry about being profitable. I think they saw the popularity of the minions and decided "yeah, more of THAT." This is such a shame because the first film featured the minions but also had other humourous elements and didn't rely solely upon slapstick meant for the five year olds in the audience.
Aside from the excessive minions and slapstick, my biggest problem with this film is the characters and their motivation, or rather, lack thereof. In the first film, right after the opening scene, we spend time getting to know Gru, what he's like, where he is in life, what his problems are, what his goals are, and what his motivation is.
We see that from an early age he's incredibly smart and wants to go to the moon, as well as impress his mother and make her proud of him. We've all had dreams and wanted recognition from our parents and loved ones. Boom, we can now relate to Gru and are invested in this character. At the same time, we're meeting and getting to know the orphan girls Margo, Edith, and Agnes. They have unique personalities but all want the same thing; to escape their miserable life at the orphanage, to have a home, and a loving family.
Gru, with his modest at best crime spree, has run afoul of the "Bank of Evil" (the Lehman brothers crack was comedy gold) which he needs to fund a rocket so he can steal the moon. Halfway into this film, we've established our main characters, come to care about them, and learned their objectives and struggles. Despicable Me 2 has almost none of that.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Where is the character motivation for Gru or anyone in this movie? What is Gru's ultimate struggle and objective in this film? It's never really made clear. What's Lucy's ultimate struggle and objective in this film? Again, it's not really there. They didn't even have to get too deep and could have used simple and basic story-telling to make this movie as impressive as the first one. I list some ideas and a possible story below.
Continuity, and parallels with the first film
This would have been a good place to start. Gru, now done with villainy and fearing retribution from Mr. Perkins and the Bank of Evil, contacts the Anti-Villain League (AVL) and turns in the Bank of Evil, leading to the arrest of Mr. Perkins and the first appearance of Lucy Wilde. She and Gru banter for a bit and she suggests that he'd be good as part of the AVL team. Gru, needing work as he would have no direction since the last film, would agree to become part of the AVL. This already creates continuity and gets the characters interacting with each other.
Characters, conflict, objectives and struggles
With Gru busy with his new job, the girls are mostly left alone with the minions. We have a great opportunity here to do something with the characters. We can keep Agnes wanting a mother, because it's natural and it's something she'd see around her, and we can have Margo wanting someone to be there for her and connect with her (this brings us to Antonio, but we'll get to that in a minute), and we can have Edith (who has been practicing martial arts judging from the early scenes) want to get out there and kick villainous butt like Gru. Bam, now all our main characters have objectives and struggles and we're invested in them, and we want to see them succeed.
Gru and Lucy, being new agents, are at the bottom of the AVL and in a montage have to deal with fairly plain things, such as the Post Office/UPS of Evil, and the odd "evil" science experiment like the monster bunny we saw in Despicable Me 2. At the end of the montage, we see Gru not being happy with his new position in life, something he shares with Lucy who wants to "catch the big fish" and not just sleazy, evil bankers, mailmen, and creatures. Oh, look at that! We now have characters connecting! Aw, how cute. I'm rooting for them!
A plot that drives a story. How to make the story better
As it's made clear through animation and suggestion that Gru and Lucy may be starting to like each other, they get word of a major villain heist. It could even be the same one from the movie. As the two dash off to investigate, Margo is approached by a young boy (Antonio) who appears to be perfect. Now, in this version, we try and make him perfect and not a snotty kid like in the film. He's cute, he listens to her, he's polite, and appears to genuinely care for her. Margo is of course smitten and so she wants to impress this guy, telling him that her dad Gru is a "spy" and shows him the awesome underground lair and introduces him to the minions.
Back with Gru and Lucy, the AVL is unsure who could have pulled this heist and so put Gru and Lucy on the case since Gru is a former villain. Gru and Lucy are happy because it's a big case and if they crack it, it's smooth sailing from then on. Now our characters have motivation. Gru comes home to share the news when he spots Margo being absolutely smitten with Antonio in his lair/lab. Furious that she'd show a stranger their secrets, he scolds Margo, creating conflict between the two. Margo confronts Gru about how he's almost never there for her emotionally unlike Antonio, and storms off. Rebellious pre-teen/teenager time! That night, a shadowy and unseen figure breaks in and begins kidnapping minions, something that persists for almost the rest of the movie.
The next day, as Gru and Lucy are trying to track down the villain, it leads to them meeting Eduardo Perez, who Gru recognizes as "El Macho". Gru, having been a villain, is also recognized by El Macho. Or Eduardo as he's calling himself now. Eduardo explains that he had to retire when the Bank of Evil was busted, so he faked his death in a macho way and now runs a Mexican restaurant. Lucy and Gru suspect the villain they're looking for may be Eduardo, but he assures them he's retired from villainy, relieved at not having to constantly keep up his super macho image. He invites them to his restaurant for business and to prove to them that he's innocent.
Meanwhile, Margo, still angry, is consoled by Antonio who asked her out on a date. She accepts, and Agnes and Edith follow them to spy on them. Antonio takes Margo to the same restaurant where Gru and Lucy are eating, and it's revealed that Eduardo is Antonio's father. Eduardo invites them all to his "Cinco De Mayo" party. All three girls meet Lucy for the first time, with Lucy coming to Margo's "aid" in the dating department, creating some kind of connection between Margo and Lucy. Lucy also comments on Edith's "stealth" abilities in being able to follow her sister undetected, which makes Edith beam with pride and demonstrate some of her ninja moves (when we see in the OTL Despicable Me 2, but are never used to effect). Lucy then shows Edith some of her own martial arts moves (that were seen in the OTL movie), which Edith finds cool, creating a connection between Edith and Lucy. Agnes could trip and Lucy could tend to her, causing at least some kind of connection between Agnes and Lucy. BOOM! Now the kids have a connection with this character and could realistically begin to care about her and her well-being.
That night, the girls pester Gru about getting serious with Lucy as they sing her praises. Margo finds her understanding, Edith finds her cool, and Agnes finds her motherly, expressing her desire to have a mother, especially considering the upcoming mother's day recital (mentioned in OTL movie but again, never seen). After the girls go to sleep, Gru meets up with Lucy to break into Eduardo's restaurant to make sure he's not hiding anything, and the shadowy figure returns to steal more minions.
The next day, Gru and Lucy continue their investigation. This part of the movie was also okay, with the framing of Floyd Eaglesan and the seeming "case closed". It turns out that Lucy got a promotion and is being sent to Australia, whereas Gru will stay in America. To celebrate their success and to see each other off one last time, they make a date out of Eduardo's "Cinco De Mayo" party/fiesta. At the fiesta, Margo searches for Antonio, but he's nowhere to be found initially, appearing a few minutes later after Edith and Agnes try to get Gru and Lucy more together. Antonio appears, and invites Margo to dance.
Eduardo calls everyone's attention to thank them for coming to his fiesta, and all the adults drink. All the adults, including Eduardo, Gru and Lucy pass out from a drug in the "adult drinks". Only the kids are unaffected. It is at this point in time that Antonio is revealed to be the villain all along. Plot twist!
Antonio explains that he got close to Margo because he knew about Gru from his father, and so getting close to her meant knowing how to get into the house and begin stealing minions for his army. The early Gru/Lucy cases involving rabid mutant evil animals, were Antonio's earliest experiments with the formula seen in the OTL movie. The minions were to help create Antonio's army of minions. Margo is devastated and hurt that she was used (something that happened in the first film as well but is NEVER addressed).
When asked why he did this, Antonio explains that it was for his father. The Bank of Evil was helping them live a good life, but Gru's interference change his life and effectively ended the career of his father whom he idolized. Hey! Look! We now have a somewhat complex villain with clear motivation, goals and depth! Awesome!
Margo, Edith, and Agnes now have to stop Antonio from hurting Gru and Lucy. They manage to escape and return home where they acquire the antidote (something the AVL would conceivably give to Gru and Lucy to help their earlier cases). Edith dons her ninja gear, Margo grabs the antidote and Gru's freeze ray, and Agnes grabs her unicorn because "d'aww, ain't she cute and silly"?
Back at the fiesta locale, Gru and Lucy awake to Antonio and his army of minions, where Antonio explains everything. How he used Margo to get close to Gru and his minions, how he framed Floyd Eaglesan, and how he intends to use his minion army as a threat to get money and restore villainy to the family. As Antonio preps his minion army, Gru and Lucy admit their feelings for each other.
Meanwhile, Edith sneaks in and opens the main gate for Margo and Agnes, making their way to Gru and Lucy with a combination of ninjustu, antidote, and freeze ray. This is the big climax, and a parallel of sorts from the first film. While Gru had to rescue the girls in the first film, now it's the girls who have to rescue Gru. Margo eventually confronts Antonio, saying "freeze ray" as she freezes him. With the minions back to normal and Gru and Lucy saved, there's a "big happy family" moment, and some redemption for the villain as he's confronted/consoled/reassured/scolded by his father Eduardo.
About a year later, Gru and Lucy are getting married, and with them working for the AVL and the kids being capable of saving them, it sets up a possible third film for the whole family being crime-fighters who take down villains.
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There was so much wasted opportunity with this film, and it's been bugging me so I blasted this out once babysitting duties were over.
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