Despicable Me 2 is mayhem on speed as the imagination runs wild

The ever-entrepreneurial Gru (brilliantly voiced by Steve Carell) has left behind a life of super crime to raise his three daughters, but just as he starts to adjust to his role as a suburban family man, an ultra-secret organisation dedicated to fighting evil around the globe comes knocking. Now, it's up to Gru and his new partner, Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig of Bridesmaids), to discover who is responsible for a spectacular crime and bring him to justice. With the help of Dr Nefario (voiced by Russell Brand of Hop) and the Minions, crime gets a hilarious make over.

One of the most endearing qualities of the film is the unpredictable nature of its journey; when the unexpected occurs, misfortune leads to fortune and then catastrophe culminates in contentment.

What if, what could and whatever

It's this enjoyable battle between "what if?", "what could", and "whatever" that results in first-rate entertainment. It's mayhem on speed as the imagination runs wild and takes us on a rollercoaster ride that offers excellent escapism.

The success and supremacy of its telling and execution lie in its universality: although it deals with the solving of a crime to prevent the our lovable Minions becoming vicious Gremlins, at its heart lies the endearing story of a man who will do anything to save his family (and a cold-hearted man who discovers the power of love). Despicable 2 never takes itself too seriously and allows its vibrant characters to spin their magic and put a capital E into entertainment.

Despicable Me 2 marks the producers' and directors' entrance into the medium of 3D and shows that nothing beats 3D at its best when used effectively. It totally immerses the audience into the world of Gru, the girls and the Minions. The logic of using 3D successfully is brilliantly applied when the most macho villain of all time drops into a volcano with a shark strapped to him, or we travel underwater to find the Anti-Villain League-which has as its headquarters an incredible submarine, showing the full power of 3D.

If you are looking for perfect escapism filled with laugh-out-loud excitement, make sure to share Despicable Me 2 with friends and family.

Make sure to stay for the end credits, they are as utterly enjoyable as the film itself, celebrating the foolish ingenuity of the zany Minions, but equally showing the imaginative brilliance of Minion director Pierre Coffin (who also voices the characters with Chris Renaud), perfectly revealing the Minion's unpredictable, competitive, curious and subversively sweet nature, as well as their love for causing mischief and mayhem almost as much as they love bananas.

Competition

Minion fans can win a hamper that includes a Despicable Me DVD, as well as a Despicable Me 2 Towel, kids T-shirt and cap, and foldable flying disc with the title treatment on the front. To enter the competition go to http://www.writingstudio.co.za/page1466.html.

Behind the scenes

Originally imagined as yellow, pill-shaped henchmen who aided Gru as he did his dastardly deeds, Gru's Minions evolved over the course of Despicable Me 2 into some of the movie's biggest scene stealers. As the characters progressed in storyboarding, in design and in the script, the filmmakers saw the power of their potential and wove them further into the story. Meledandri discusses their evolution: "Minions are going to continue to be surprising and disarming. As wonderful as the Minions are and as beloved as they are in the first movie, one of the qualities that defines them is the unexpected. "The closest I've ever seen to this would be the reaction between audiences and Scrat from Ice Age," he continued. "Yet our experience with Scrat was that because it was a defined character with a defined goal, there wasn't the opportunity for the breadth of exploration. The Minions are non-verbal characters and their entire creation was born out of the visual process. They're characters that aren't defined by a script, but they're defined by the visual exploration, which enables them to communicate across every culture because they are not specific to any one culture."

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