海角大神

Three years ago, the animated movie featuring Steve Carell鈥檚 grumpy but warm-hearted villain Gru, 鈥�Despicable Me,鈥� conquered the summer with a staggering box-office gross. Can the movie鈥檚 sequel do it again?

In the first film, Gru, who yearns to be respected as an evildoer but can never seem to make his crimes go correctly, adopted three girls whom he planned to use against a fellow supervillain, only to find his heart melted by the children who were just looking for a family. In the sequel, which came out July 3, Gru is approached by the Anti-Villain League, who ask him to work for them and help take down someone dangerous. When Gru finally agrees, sparks fly between him and an Anti-Villain League agent, Lucy (Kristen Wiig).

In addition to Carell and Wiig returning (Wiig actually voiced a different character in the first film), the three actresses who play Gru鈥檚 daughters, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Kate Fisher, are all back for the sequel. 鈥淟aw & Order鈥� actor Benjamin Bratt voices a new villain, while 鈥淩uby Sparks鈥� actor Steve Coogan plays the head of the Anti-Villain League. Bratt replaced actor Al Pacino after Pacino left the project.

Reviews so far have been mixed. Mark Kermode of called it 鈥渇unnier... than its predecessor鈥� and said he 鈥渓aughed [his] way through pretty much the entire film.鈥�

鈥淭he real joy, however, is in the increased role of the goggle-eyed Minions,鈥� Kermode wrote, calling them 鈥渃omedy gold."

writer Scott Mendelson, however, was less impressed, running his review with the headline 鈥淒espicable Me 2 is despicably generic.鈥�

鈥淭he first act of Despicable Me 2聽is so winning and engaging that it鈥檚 almost a tragedy how the rest of the film falls into bargain basement formula,鈥� he wrote.

writer Owen Gleiberman agreed, giving the film a C grade.

鈥淚n the surprisingly toothless sequel, [Gru] has been neutered into a boring nice guy,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淎dults will just regret the way that Despicable Me 2 betrays the original film鈥檚 devotion to bad-guy gaiety.鈥�