Despicable Me 2
Universal Pictures | Release Date: July 3, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
17
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJul 1, 2013
The funniest kids’ cartoon of the summer. Read full review
83
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJul 2, 2013
For now, the franchise has enough zip and humor to be worthwhile. Read full review
80
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekJul 2, 2013
There are so many ways Despicable Me 2 could have gone wrong, and so many things it does right. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 8, 2013
It's still a first-class charm assault. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonJul 3, 2013
While I remain disappointed that the sequel gives me a subdued Gru and an uneven pace, I keep remembering things about Despicable Me 2 that make me smile. For every meh moment, there's almost 2 well-conceived gags or lines. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoJul 2, 2013
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. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartJul 2, 2013
As in the original “Despicable,” masterful physical comedy is what raises this animated pic so far above most of its competitors. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 2, 2013
Despicable Me 2 provides a good bonding opportunity for parents and children with enough palatable elements to please members of both generations. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJul 2, 2013
An animated sequel that, despite not achieving the inspired lunacy of the first movie where Gru literally steals the moon, is smartly calculated to deliver squeals to kids and amusement to accompanying adults. Read full review
70
TimeMary PolsJul 5, 2013
Despicable Me 2 is far more entertaining than the disappointingly bland "Monsters University" and as a sequel stands level with the first film, and may have the edge on it. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 4, 2013
The script — by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul — is erratic, to put it generously. Yet the 3-D animation is so stylish and, from time to time, so downright beautiful, that you hardly notice when the storytelling loses track of itself. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJul 3, 2013
Despicable Me 2 does have plenty of what made the first film so entertaining — its wedding of James Bond–like gadgetry and visual invention with goofy slapstick, and the dizzying fun had with shrink rays, piranha guns, elaborate evil spaceships, and the like. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJul 3, 2013
Even with slightly heavier issues, like its predecessor, Despicable Me 2 is light on its feet, visually inventive and very fast with the repartee. It requires actors who can pull off the many peppery lines at warp speed and in that the film is lucky with its voice cast. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeJun 17, 2013
While not quite as charming or unique as the original, Despicable Me 2 comes awfully close. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenJun 17, 2013
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. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJul 2, 2013
There's enough here for a nice little movie, anyway, even if Al Pacino didn't think so. He was hired to voice the movie's arch villain but dropped out due to "creative differences." Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesBruce IngramJul 3, 2013
[A] remarkably tepid sequel to the surprise 2010 hit. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniJul 3, 2013
If you're looking for quality prepackaged, predigested Hollywood family fun this summer, you could do a lot worse than Despicable Me 2. Read full review
63
Film.comLaremy LegelJul 2, 2013
Despicable Me 2 is fun, especially near the culmination. Structural issues aside, it’s impossible not to like these characters, all of them, rendered with love, always entertaining even when the story around them doesn’t make much sense. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJul 2, 2013
This loony 'toon is dizzy with wonderments, especially in 3-D. The spindly-limbed character design owes more to Charles Addams' family than to Walt Disney's kingdom, while the story and settings evoke James Bond on laughing gas. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 2, 2013
It's a reasonably efficient baby sitter, done up in 3-D computer-generated animation of no special distinction. But the first one's weird mixture of James Bond bombast and hyperactive pill-shaped Minions (the protagonist Gru's goggle-clad helpers) had the element of surprise in its favor. Read full review
60
The DissolveTasha RobinsonJul 10, 2013
Despicable Me 2 has its charms, in its spritely pacing, a rapid-fire gag-delivery system that hits as often as it misses, and especially in its innovative, expansive use of 3-D space. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJul 3, 2013
Easily the most enjoyable animated film of 2013 so far. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 2, 2013
A too-good Gru is a boring Gru. No matter how much you crank up the adorability factor or offer up the occasional laugh, there is no getting around that. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJul 2, 2013
Guaranteed to charm anyone who’s out of school and already bored. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichJul 2, 2013
Carell and Wiig make a splendid vocal pair — Nick and Nora Charles with ice guns and lipstick Tasers. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraJun 28, 2013
It falters in the middle and hesitates unnecessarily in setting up the love story, but Gru still has charm and kids will adore the Minions. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 28, 2013
Nothing here to challenge anything from the Pixar golden age, but Despicable Me 2 is a sweet-natured family film. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyJun 28, 2013
The one inspired idea here is what happens to the minions when they’re injected with serum by the film’s mystery baddie, and this is enough to give us at least a reel’s worth of anarchic pleasure. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonGuy LodgeJun 28, 2013
Its repetitive qualities are beyond reproach. Every bit as amiable and disposable as its predecessor, it recycles everything from slapstick gags to its own voice cast. Read full review
60
Total FilmJosh WinningJun 28, 2013
The minions give good mayhem and the twig-armed animation’s lovely. Despite the coolest submarine-car since Bond’s Lotus Esprit, though, Despicable Me 2 is light on gadgets – and surprises, too. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJul 3, 2013
It's just a shame that the search for the missing formula ends up feeling so formulaic. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigJul 3, 2013
This shallow sequel to 2010's much cleverer Despicable Me — the 10th-biggest animated movie in U.S. history — seems to be merely going through the motions. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisJul 3, 2013
Given the outlandish premise, you'll wish the film twinkled with a more savvy sense of humor and adventure, like the chapters of the "Toy Story" series, for example. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJul 2, 2013
Once again, the lesson that more is not necessarily better, something rarely learned by blockbuster sequels, is forgotten. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jul 2, 2013
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. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanJun 26, 2013
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. Read full review
42
The PlaylistDrew TaylorJul 2, 2013
You just wish that the kind of attention lavished on the visuals of Despicable Me 2 could have carried over to its storytelling. Despicable Me 2 lacks emotion and depth, and all the minions in the world can't make up for that. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChris CabinJun 28, 2013
The script's jumble of plot asides and family-friendly pandering is enough to make you want to root for a hero. Read full review
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