This animation film is about a retired master-mind criminal, Gru (who has the voice of Steve Carell). Gru just wants to be left alone to take care of the three lovely children he has, Margo (voice of Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (voice of Dana Gaier) and Agnes (voice of Elsie Fisher). He is happy being their adopted father and playing with them in a big mansion, no longer interested in a life of crime. Because of this, his previous partner in crime Dr. Nefario (voice of Russell Brand) abandons him to go to work for another active master-mind criminal which we find out later is the notorious "El Macho" (voice of Benjamin Bratt). El Macho is supposed to be dead but only faked his death.
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Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League (AVL) to try to stop El Macho from taking over the world using a secret formula of purple goop he stole from the Arctic lab. This purple goop turns the normally friendly yellow minions into crazed purple monsters that El Macho can control for his attacks. Gru agrees, against his better judgment, to work with AVL agent Lucy (voice of Kristen Wiig) to try to discover the secret identity of El Macho, expose him, and defeat him. Gru thinks EL Macho is a Mexican restaurant owner Eduardo so they set up shop in the local mall disguised as a bakery called “Bake My Day”, in order to spy on Eduardo in his restaurant nearby. At first, Gru and Lucy cannot get any evidence on Eduardo to prove he is El Macho, but they finally do figure it out together in spite of the troubles they have with El Macho's pet chicken Pollito.
While Gru is working with Lucy to solve the crime caper and prevent world domination by El Macho he falls in love with her. But, Gru is too shy to tell her so. He waits to tell her until near the end when they face eminent death. Then he confesses his love for Lucy. Dr. Nefario has a change of heart and decides to help Gru overcome El Macho. Dr. Nefario helps Gru by preparing an antidote for the purple goop that turns all the minions back to their sweet yellow selves that follow the leadership of Gru, not El Macho. In this way, El Macho is defeated.
Best part of story, including ending:
This is the second film in the franchise and it is just as good as the first one, which is unusual. They did a good job continuing the story.
Best scene in story:
When Gru and Lucy are flying to their death, strapped to a shark-shaped bomb that is heading for a volcano and Gru finally gets the courage to tell Lucy he loves her. It's charming when they narrowly escape death together.
Opinion about the main character:
Gru is one of the most likable villains, now that he has converted to being a good guy.
