I loved the original movie and was therefore delighted when my grown up kids asked to go along to see the sequel, even though I was doubtful that it would be as good. So we selected our sweets, put on our 3D specs and waited with great anticipation.
The trailers showed some great films on their way – Walking with Dinosaurs looked amazing and so did the long awaited Monsters Inc follow up Monsters University. I’m not so sure about Smurf 2 though. Be warned that DM2 animated characters are advertised – at £40 a pop.
So, DM2 starts with a fiendish crime in the Artic and news of a transformational serum. And then we meet a new character – Agent Wild. Resembling James Bond only in transformer vehicles and funky gadgets (we loved the Lipstick taser) as she’s a woman, has ginger hair and is kind of sweet. You can see a potential love match on the cards with Gru before various people try to set him up on dates.
El Macho is a fabulously overweight Hispanic villain and his super-smooth son charms Margo so we get to see Gru in overprotective father mode. And young Agnes is just as adorable as in the first film.
There are some memorable songs in the mix and the minions, of course, provide the majority of the laughs. And instead of swilling beer when they are off duty, they indulge in ice cream. But Gru’s attempt to make a phone call to request a date and his happy scene were the two best moments of the film for me.
We enjoyed it. Even though it didn’t quite have the charm and depth of the original. And I’m sure that any small people who liked the first one will be just as happy with this one too.
