DESPICABLE ME 2
Cert U
98 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very mild scary scenes and slapstick violence
For a month Despicable Me 2 has bubbled away in my consciousness - my sense of anticipation increasing with every report of how funny it was.
My daughter (aged 20) was the latest to extol the virtues of a picture which has received such wide acclaim that it is starting to appear in 'greatest film of all time' lists.
With this backdrop it could only disappoint and, indeed, I have to report that, while it is very good, it is not as great as I had hoped.
However, let me be clear that the representatives of its target audience (between ages three and eight) at Cambridge Cineworld yesterday afternoon would disagree with me wholeheartedly.
They loved the physical gags (particularly, the fart smoke) and were laughing with gusto throughout.
And, of course, there is much to admire about Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud's movie.
Steve Carell is a gem as the villain whose heart has been melted by three adopted daughters.
Indeed, he is now such an upstanding citizen that the Anti-Villain League wants to sign him up to catch a devious criminal.
Thus, he teams up and falls in love with the quirky agent Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and spends the rest of the movie quietly and clumsily trying to impress her.
Standing in the way of true love are her boss (Steve Coogan) and a suspected villain (Benjamin Bratt).
But the young daughters and Despicable Me's famous minions pull on all of their reserves to try to make good (and love) win the day.
At the same time the minions provide the most giggles.
The story is charming and the film has a hallmark of ingenuity. Sadly, however, I didn't laugh as much I thought I would or that they hype suggested I should.
Laughs: Four for me but many more for kids in the audience,
Jumps: None
Vomit: none:
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8/10