reneemsm

I think this is one of those movies that you either love or hate. I loved it, my husband hated it. It definitely is a bit of a downer which is why I gave it a 7/10. It's not gonna be a movie that puts you in a holly jolly mood (at least not until the last 15 minutes). So I understand why many people disliked it. But with that said, I found the brutal honesty very charming. It felt real and still managed to have quite a few laughs in the midst of the drama. Very reminiscent of The Family Stone. I think if they hadn't marketed it as a comedy, so that people knew what to expect going in, it would have a better score right now. Something else that I noticed and loved was the way it was filmed. It was very beautifully shot, and there were lots of gorgeous close ups that, to me, made the scenes even better. And I really enjoyed how a few shots were filmed from the perspective of the children as they were running through crowds or stores etc. Very unique and added a little extra something (though maybe I only noticed because I'm a photographer). Probably not something kids will enjoy (there were more than a few in our theater and they didn't seem very interested).

Generally I am not a fan of sequels. Specifically the sequels to kids movies tend to just get dumber and dumber. Definitely NOT the case with Despicable Me 2. My husband & myself (30), our 3 kids (4, 6 & 8), my parents (in their 50's) and my little sister (21) all went to see this on the 4th of July b/c our park pans were rained out. We ALL laughed from the first minute to the last. It honestly starts off hilarious and just keeps the jokes coming the whole time. Another thing I liked about this one was that there were 2 scenes that had the adults laughing hysterically, that the kids didn't quite get. It was nice that it wasn't 100% aimed at the kids, so no matter the age everyone in the theater was laughing the whole time.

It was nice to see Gru as a great dad being responsible and fun, and it was nice to see him with a love interest. The girls are growing up a little so that was really cute to see and to see how Gru is reacting to that. My favorite thing about this one though, was that the Minions had such a BIG part. Half of the laughs were because of them which was great.

I would HIGHLY recommend seeing this one ASAP! (Though, you could probably skip the 3D aspect).

I was really hoping this one would be good. Not necessarily as good as the first, but still good. But we were a little disappointed. We went the day it opened and the theater was packed with lots of kids (and some teens and adults). My kids (and many of the other kids in the theater) were getting quite bored by halfway through and asking when it was going to be over. It was weird because as an adult, I enjoyed it OK, (even though it was painfully slow at times) but it just seemed like it wasn't something that little ones could really appreciate. I liked the story and the animation was really colorful and well-done. But, a lot of the college humor was lost on them and the things that were actually funny and on their level, weren't until the last half of the film. But by that time, they'd already lost all of the kids in the theater to boredom.

Another thing is, that there is absolutely nothing to be gained by seeing this in 3D. If you feel that you MUST see it in the theater, don't waste your money on the 3D ticket. After seeing The Croods (twice) and being completely blown away by the 3D (and everything else about the movie), this was a huge let down. Hopefully Despicable Me 2 will help us rebound next week.