Despicable Me 2

This movie is ridiculously cute!
I love all these characters so much.

I took my nephew to see Despicable Me 2, directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, and I am so glad that I did!

It's a great family movie that is fun for everyone. It's almost impossible to not love the little minions. Even the evil ones that are introduced in this movie are kinda cute. Not near as funny though.



It's been awhile since I watched this, so I will probably get the sequence of events wrong. Oops.

The movie starts with a secret laboratory being stolen from Antarctica by a mysterious magnetic flying machine. Dun dun dun.

Then we shift focus onto Gru (Steve Carell) and the girls. It's Agnes' birthday party, and a bunch of her friends are over awaiting the fairy princess. When the fairy princess can't make it - Gru ends up dressing up himself, so that Agnes (Elsie Fisher) isn't disappointed. One of the mothers at the party is trying to set Gru up with her friend, and he is far from interested.

Later, Gru is abducted by Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and taken to a secret underwater lair where an agency that works to stop super villains works. They want his help catching the thief of the laboratory from Antarctica, thinking that his previous work as a villain might give him some insight. They have tracked him down to the mall, but aren't sure which shop owner it might be. So Gru will get to go undercover as a cupcake shop owner and catch the bad guy. One catch, his partner is Lucy. And he isn't so sure that he likes Lucy.



That night, Gru helps Agnes practice her Mother's Day poem that she will be reciting in her upcoming play. Agnes remembers the lines perfectly, but has no emotion. When Gru asks her about this, she admits that she wishes she had a mother, and then she might be able to put more feeling into the poem.

On the next day, Gru and Lucy start to scope out the mall. They narrow it down to just a couple suspects, including Eduardo (Benjamin Bratt), who owns a Mexican restaurant and a wig shop owner. They search the wig shop and pick up traces of the potion they are looking for.



The girls are also at the mall, wandering around, when Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) sees a very good looking boy. His name is Antonio (Moises Arias) And he comes up to her, and asks if she wants to go get a cookie. She of course agrees, and leaves Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes by themselves. So, they tattle to Gru.

Antonio ends up being the son of none other than Eduardo, the main suspect. Gru gets Margo, but not before they are invited to a Cinco de Mayo party at Eduardo's home. Which the girls really really want to go to. Finding out that Antonio is Eduardo's son makes Gru convinced that Eduardo is the one he is looking for.

Gru and Lucy sneak into the mall at night and search Eduardo's restaurant, and Gru realizes that he knows him from his past. He used to be a villain named El Macho, and supposedly died after launching a shark, tied to a rocket into an erupting volcano, while he was connected. They break into his secret vault, thinking they will for sure find the stuff he stole from the lab, and instead find the secret salsa recipe. So they of course stop searching for a bit to snack on chips and salsa.



The next day, Silas Ramsbottom comes to the mall and arrests the wig shop owner, closing the case. Gru tells him that he is wrong, but Silas hears none of it. Lucy will be going to Australia. Gru is heartbroken. As much as he didn't like her to begin with, he had grown quite fond of Lucy over their little partnership. Unfortunately for Silas, they got the wrong guy. Eduardo really is the thief, and Gru finds this out at the Cinco de Mayo party. And he is being helped with his evil plans by none other than Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), who had left Gru at the beginning of the movie for another career opportunity. They show Gru what they have been doing to his minions (who have been going missing throughout the movie) and ask him to join them. Gru refuses, of course. He has turned away from the villain way of life.

He goes back out to the party, finds that Antonio has left Margo to dance with another girl. Freezes Antonio and gets the girls home. He knows that he has to go after El Macho. And has a pleasant surprise when Dr. Nefario realized the error of his ways and comes back to help him, with the antidote.

I don't want to give away the end of the movie, but you know it ends happily ever after, it's for kids.

Despicable Me 2 is a cute movie. I don't think it is quite at the same level as the first movie, which is a 10 out of 10 to me, but it has a cute love story and Gru and the girls are still just as fun.

I loved how much this movie was like an action movie. From the way it started, to the very end, it had a plot that follows most adult action films.

I really liked the new character, Lucy. She was spunky and fun. And had a bit of a crush on Gru from the very beginning. She is a good match for him and his girls. And of course, I love Agnes. When she reads the Mother's Day poem at the end, I tear up a little. Just adorable.



And of course the minions. Whoever came up with these lovable little characters is a genius.

What I didn't like is that Edith really could have been left out of this movie completely, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. They needed to make her character more important, I think.

Overall, I think it's definitely worth a watch. I plan on purchasing it when it comes out on DVD. And I give it an 8 out of 10.

Thanks for reading.
Please comment with your thoughts!

Grown Ups 2

As I said in my July list post, I went to see this movie because my boyfriend really loves the first one (which I have not seen). To my surprise, I enjoyed Grown Ups 2. Some parts of it were over the top, but in general, it worked.



Grown Ups 2, directed by Dennis Dugan, is not Adam Sandler's best comedy, but it has it's moments. After spending time with his old friends a few years ago, Lenny (Adam Sandler) decides to move back home so his kids can grow up where he did. The movie starts with Lenny waking up to a giant deer right in his face. The deer then runs around, causing chaos in the whole house until he sees the toy monkey that Becky (Alexys Nycole Sanchez), Lenny's daughter, is clutching. It's a great start to the last day of school.

They then add in the completely unnecessary bus driver character, Nick (Nick Swardson). I hate pretty much every character he plays except Jeff in Grandma's Boy. Nick is just supposed to be funny in the movie, I know. But he is so stupid! He is high when he comes to get the kids, so Lenny ends up driving the bus. After he drops off the kids he takes it to K-Mart and the Becky's dance recital.

I can't remember if this is before or after the dance recital, but the four guys, Lenny, Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James), Kurt McKenzie (Chris Rock), and Marcus Higgins (David Spade), all head over to their old swimming hole so that Eric can finally jump off the 30 foot cliff. They have a bad run in with a group of frat boys led by Taylor Lautner. I enjoyed the frat boys because I think they were a great hyperbolic example of college kids today. It was nice to see the old crowd as the cool guys, for a change.



Anyway, Lenny ends up throwing a big ol' 80's themed party at the end of the movie and everyone in the entire town shows up in costume. He gets some surprising news from his wife, Roxanne (Salma Hayek), and gets in a fight with the frat boys again but everything ends up being good in the end.

The movie has some really dumb stuff in it, I'm not going to lie. But overall, it was just funny. The things that I didn't really like about it were: Nick Swardson, Marcus' son Braden (Alexander Ludwig), and the deer at the beginning. All of those things seemed a bit over the top for me and really didn't add much to the movie. Although the deer does come back at the end and plays a more significant role.

The things that I did like: Salma Hayek (she is seriously hot), the 80's themed party, and seeing Taylor Lautner act like an idiot. There were other things that were good about it, but that is what really stands out to me.

These four guys have great on screen chemistry. I think that's one of the things that Adam Sandler always has going for him in his movies. They don't have to try that hard to play a part because it's not that different from how they might act with each other off camera. That doesn't seem like much, but it really brings a lot extra to the movie, in my opinion. And it's not just the four main characters either, most of the other actors in the movie play their characters with ease as well.



I give it a 7 out of 10.

August Movies

Summer movies are almost over! =(

Luckily, there are a couple this month that look really good. And autumn has some that I cannot wait to see. =)

2 Guns
>It's not a secret that I love Mark Wahlberg. And Denzel Washington. And who doesn't love a good cop movie? Should have good action and humor. Throw some almost naked women in there, and you have a man movie. Which I enjoy more than "chick flicks."
Elysium
>It's sci-fi. Of course I want to see it. Destroyed Earth is a common theme right now, and I like it.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
>I really enjoyed these books. I do need to watch the first movie first though. Plus, Sean Bean.
We're the Millers
>This looks pretty funny. Nothing really stands out as amazing about it, but it'll be worth the watch.
Kick-Ass 2
>I liked the first one. This one is going to be a bit different since they switched directors. But I like that Jim Carrey is going to be in it.
Paranoia
>This looks amazing. I don't care too much for Liam Hemsworth (I prefer his brother), but this movie gives him the opportunity to make it on my list of actors I like. Right along Harrison Ford, who also stars in this.
The Butler
>I enjoy a good historical film. This is an interesting story and one that is not often told. Also, star studded. Probably won't come to my town.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Buying this book today to read it before the movie. Hugely popular young adult books always get made into movies. I enjoy most of them (except Harry Potter) so I'll be watching this.
The World's End
>Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are a fantastic comedic team and I am really looking forward to this new movie of theirs. I'm hoping I enjoy it more than Hot Fuzz.
Getaway
>I honestly think I will be disappointed by this. It's like a mix between Cellular and Fast and Furious or something. If nothing else though, should have some good action.

I think August has a good mix of movies. And I am excited to watch and review these for my readers. =)

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger, directed by Gore Verbinski, was a bit of a let down for me. Which I predicted it might be.

Before I get into the movie, I want to say that my theater experience might have influenced my overall enjoyment of the movie. We had extremely uncomfortable seats, I was being poked by something plastic the whole time, and my boyfriends squeaked really bad. My friend's seemed okay, and she had a great view since the seat in front of her was missing. Seriously, what happened in that particular screen? The rest of the theater is usually pretty nice.

Also, I'm from Wyoming, as you might know. And the people sitting next to us - were stereotypical Wyomingites (one of them was even wearing a cowboy hat). Trust me, that is not a good thing. They were loud and dumb and all four of them must be madly in love with Johnny Depp because everything his character said and did was hilarious. And no, they weren't teenagers just trying to be obnoxious. They were adults.

Now, the movie. Well, the movie is set up as old Tonto telling the story to a young boy at a carnival who was dressed up as The Lone Ranger. The first bit of action comes early on, as John Reid (Armie Hammer) is sitting on the train, who has just finished his schooling as a lawyer. The train is also carrying the outlaw, Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner). The train is ambushed by his gang, freeing Cavendish. During the ambush, Reid switches places with Cavendish, ending up in handcuffs next to Tonto (Johnny Depp). The train runs off the rail, Tonto is arrested, and Reid meets up with his long lost lover, Rebecca (who is now married to his brother).

He also meets up with his brother, Texas Ranger Dan Reid (James Badge Dale), who immediately wants to go after Cavendish. John Reid wants to come along - so he gets his own badge. They get betrayed by a member of their group and are ambushed by Cavendish. Everyone dies. John Reid dies too - but not until after he watches Cavendish pull out and eat his brother's heart. Tonto, who magically escaped from his jail cell, finds the massacre and buries all the bodies. Well, except John Reid's. He has been chosen by the spirit horse to be brought back to life.

That's how The Lone Ranger is born. His mask is from the bullet holes in his brother's vest. His partner is a native who hates him. His mission: to avenge his brother's death.

We find that Cavendish is after a huge amount of raw silver that he discovered twenty years ago. Well, the silver that Tonto showed him when he was a boy. After John finds out about Tonto's past, he leaves him and tries to get justice by himself. You can probably guess this doesn't work. But I don't want to give anything else away.



The story has sooo much potential. It had a lot of dark elements that change it from just being a western and turn it into something more supernatural. But they didn't take advantage of that. There were really weird and unnecessary details like cannibalistic rabbits. Then other things weren't really explained that needed to be, like why John Reid and Rebecca didn't stay together. I think what happened is Gore Verbinski put too much focus on the character of Tonto because he was played by Johnny Depp. And in my opinion, Johnny Depp didn't play him that well. Armie Hammer was great. And the chemistry between the two characters was good. Especially with the horse added in. My favorite character was Butch Cavendish though. They really should have went more into his story instead of having Tonto take up 75% of the screen time. Also, I hated Helena Bonham Carter in the movie. There are so many actresses out there that could have played the role of Red Harrington a million times better. Why does she have to be in every movie with Johnny Depp? I've only ever really like her in like three things.

Some things I did like: The western part. I like the old Cowboys and Indians thing. Reminds me of my dad, plus it's just good ol' fashioned action. I liked the son or Rebecca and Dan. He had spunk and heart. I liked the general story of greed, betrayal, and revenge. I went into this movie expecting so much more than what I got out of it. And I am disappointed. I know I am not the only one.



I give it a six out of ten.