Despicable Me 2 Review

Here's my take on Despicable Me 2 featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Kristin Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Ken Jeong and more. The film is directed Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud. Special thanks to Solar-UIP for the invitation.

Despicable Me 2 surpasses the first movie, by how far, maybe by just an inch. The movie sticks to certain elements present in the first movie, then ditches a couple of other stuff and then just throws in a couple of new gears into the cog for good measure.

It's interesting to note that our lead Groo is working under completely different circumstances and not to mention on the opposite side of where he was originally in the first movie. Now he's batting for the side of the angels and it actually spells interesting for me. 

Is it just me or does this movie also have one of the lamest and yet campiest villain in all of animated movie history. Yes I'm talking about the movie's main villain, El Macho. 

The guy's just friggin awesome. He can do the salsa, rides sharks loaded with missiles and much much more. This is one entertaining dude.


The new movie is a fun movie due to a number of things. There's a charming little love story mixed with a bit of espionage action and a lot of adorable little things. And then there were the minions.

I liked how the story for Despicable Me 2 moved from Groo and Lucy working on the field together as partners to their inevitable falling-in. It might have looked a little too forced for some but kids really won't notice that. They did show a hilariously, horrible date between Groo and a woman who's been set up by Groo's friend which was obviously a plot point to get the two closer. I dig that though.

There's a lot of themes that Despicable Me 2 tries to fit inside it's running time. The old themes of family and a change of heart is still here albeit in a stronger form. Groo isn't the evil genius who simply wants to rule the world, he's now a dad who makes sure his little princesses get everything they want. Or at least, he'll be able to provide for them. Dr. Nefario (played by Brit comedian Russell Brand) also dishes out a couple of quips about family.

But for me the real stars of the show would have to be the minions. The first film gave them a handful of scenes where they really get to shine. This time however, they're the centerpiece. And although we barely understand what they're saying, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw you laughing hard at the antics of these little yellow men. Heck, in this movie, they even go and emulate an old irish pub song. And be prepared for the best rendition of "I Swear".



Overall, don't expect something as heavy hitting as Toy Story 3 because this movie and that movie are polar opposites. Do try to enjoy the visuals, the 3D conversion, the in-jokes and the gags that are present in the movie. Sit back and let the minions entertain you; oh and don't forget the kids. 

Verdict: 8.5/10

Special thanks to Solar-UIP for the invitation. DESPICABLE ME 2 opens July 3.

MOVIE REVIEW: Rock of Ages

Rock and Roll will always live forever!

Warner Bros. brings a classic broadway musical to the big screen with some heavy hitting names like Tom Cruise who plays the role of rock star Stacie Jaxx as well Catherine Zeta Jones and Alec Baldwin just to name a few.

While the film shares a LOT of elements there were some things from the play that was dropped and some elements that were rehashed or changed. I won't call it a bad thing, more of a surprise. (Yes I'm guilty of reading the wikipedia entry for the ROA Broadway version).

Anyway both the film and the play was based on a book written by Chris D'Arienzo which revolved around 80's fashion and music and the overall trend during that decade. There's a variety of colorful characters we get to meet during the first act of the film but the main characters are Sherrie (a small town girl) and Drew (just a city boy) who meet and fall in love.

I really don't want to spoil too much about the plot both to preserve the excitement and at the same time to make you realize that you want to watch the movie. Here's what I can safely say about the revised plot for the movie (supposing you've already seen the play); you can expect at least 85% of the story intact. The remaining 15% gets chucked to provide a "feel good" ending which actually works.

What is Warner's ROCK OF AGES?

Press Release - Hollywood’s famed Sunset Strip, 1987. Rockers wail and heads bang inside the packed and pulsating walls of a rock ‘n’ roll institution, The Bourbon Room. Heart strings are plucked and electric guitar sparks fly to the beat of some of the greatest hits of the `80s…the “Rock of Ages.”

The Broadway hit now goes from stage to screen with Warner Bros.' epic musical “Rock of Ages” under the direction of Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”). Shankman, who grew up in Los Angeles, felt right at home in the setting. “My dad was a music business manager, and his office was on the Strip,” he says. “I knew a lot of artists. I was choreographing music videos in 1987 and it was a world that I really understood and loved, so turning back that clock was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

At the core of the film is a boy-meets-girl love story woven into classic, only-in-Hollywood dreams of fame. Shankman’s sister and producing partner, Jennifer Gibgot, elaborates, “Like so many people in L.A., the young lovers in ‘Rock of Ages’ have come here hoping to make it big and thinking it’s going to be easy. But it turns out to be a lot harder to stay on the path, to keep believing in the thing that led them there in the first place.”

Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta portray the young couple with stars in their eyes at the center of the story. They are joined by an all-star cast that includes Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Mary J. Blige, Malin Akerman and Catherine Zeta-Jones. And playing the rock god of “Rock of Ages,” Arsenal lead singer Stacee Jaxx, is Tom Cruise.

For Shankman, the journey began when he went to see “Rock of Ages” on the stage. He recalls, “The audience was having the best time I’d ever seen at a show. Everybody knew the lyrics to all the songs and was out of their seats and singing along and having the time of their life. That enthusiasm, that sheer emotion, convinced me to make the movie.”

It wasn’t his only reason for revisiting the era, however. “I thought it would be an interesting challenge to make a movie musical that guys would drag their girlfriends to for a change.”

Shankman’s “Rock of Ages” is based on the Broadway smash, which earned five Tony Award nominations and is still entertaining audiences on the Great White Way as well as in touring productions around the world. The show’s book was written by Chris D’Arienzo, who is also a writer and executive producer on the film.

The story, about pursuing your heart’s desire, is backed by incredible songs and set on the iconic Sunset Strip, a place emblematic of the time, a place where fantasies could become reality, and did. Where a band from nowhere could perform at the Whiskey or The Roxy and wind up with a record deal.

Writer Justin Theroux enjoyed working on the screenplay for the jukebox musical, an opportunity he describes as “a totally different experience. In a weird way, you write backwards from the point of view of the song. The song is always the emotional center for the characters in any given scene, so it’s fun to try to get them to that specific destination. The song does a lot of the emotional heavy lifting for you, but you have to build ramps up and down, to and from, that centerpiece.”

Writer Allan Loeb also took pleasure in fiddling around with the script’s musical moments. “At times there are two songs playing off each other, going back and forth between the different storylines, with a lot of intercutting, to enable the song to serve more than one set of characters,” he details. “So the challenge was to shuffle the story and the verses, while also allowing for the choreography, until everyone explodes into a mash-up of the songs’ choruses. That’s how they did it on stage and how we handled it in the screenplay, and it was great fun to write.”

Says Shankman, “What’s often the most difficult and compelling thing about a musical like ‘Rock of Ages’ is that half of a song is played as performance and the other half as dialogue or inner monologue. I think the writers did a great job of turning a terrific stage show into a real cinematic experience. I’d like to see the movie-going audiences jumping out of their seats just like the theater audience did, and I think this story and these characters and this rockin’ music, performed by our unexpected and unbelievably talented cast, just might get them on their feet.”

Opening across the Philippines in June 14, 2012, “Rock of Ages” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.