Movie Review: Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2 
2013
Universal
Rated: PG
98 minutes

While Gru, the ex-supervillain is adjusting to family life and an attempted honest living in the jam business, a secret Arctic laboratory is stolen. The Anti-Villain League decides it needs an insider's help and recruits Gru in the investigation. Together with the eccentric AVL agent, Lucy Wilde, Gru concludes that his prime suspect is the presumed dead supervillain, El Macho, whose his teenage son is also making the moves on his eldest daughter, Margo. Seemingly blinded by his overprotectiveness of his children and his growing mutual attraction to Lucy, Gru seems on the wrong track even as his minions are being quietly kidnapped en masse for some malevolent purpose. (description from imdb.com) 

So... have I mentioned how much I love the minions? I want some of my own!! For reals.  I saw the first movie, Despicable Me, a few years ago on DVD and immediately went out and bought my own copy. Then I started wishing for a sequel.  Just when I thought they would never create a follow-up, they announced not only DM2, but another movie, Minions, that will be coming out in 2014!

There is just something wonderful about the combination of yellow, mostly mute, evil henchmen and a family unit that is truly surprising in its sweetness.  Now that Gru has settled in to having a family, has backed off from his evilness, and has trained his minions to make jam...things are well, maybe too sweet for the movie world... 

Some hilarious examples:

Gru-a-rina has come to make your party special! 

Here we see Gru, stepping in for the fairy who was supposed to entertain at Agnes' birthday party. Unable to break her heart with a no-show fairy, Gru actually puts on the dress, wings, and a falsetto to keep her happy.  *grins*  Let's just say Gru makes an interesting fairy... 

So, Gru, what *are* your hobbies?

Here, Gru finds the girls putting together his online dating profile.  *snarf* I laughed so hard I almost cried here.  They mean well, but Gru's, well Gru, and imagine an ex-super-villain dating online! 

Then, because nothing can stay that easy or happy in the movie world, Gru meets a woman who infuriates and fascinates him. She also tases him at their first meeting! 

LIPSTICK TASER!

Lucy is hilarious and awesome and just the right amount of kick-@ss newbie secret agent to pluck at the heartstrings.  Her unabashed admiration of Gru, his family, his minions, and his past make her a heartwarming addition to the crew.  The way that she helps each of them out without stepping over any boundaries or making them feel awkward was just another example of movie-writing magic.  

I saw this movie with friends and their small children.  I'm happy to report that there was only one moment that was a little too scary for the young ones and within a few funny moments it was smiles all around again.  I left the theater smiling and full of anticipation for Minions.  I'm already plotting my DVD purchase the day this one comes out, and I'll just leave you with a last little glimpse of my personally favorite minion: 

I LOVE CARL.  Bee-do, bee-do, bee-do... 

I consider this movie to be a MUST SEE of the summer!!! 

Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures

by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The Caster Chronicles, book one

 

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. (description from Amazon.com)

 

Okay, I have to admit it. This was one of those books that sat on my book shelf for years, literally years waiting to be read. I got this in ARC form from BEA the very first time I went.  In a ginormous pile of books that there was no real way that I could read in a timely manner... before I learned to not take everything in sight... and it wasn't at the top of my "OMG, I need to read this right now list" so it kept getting put aside.

 

Since then, I have had plenty of teens tell me how great the series is and we get requests for them at the library all the time, but it wasn't until I started seeing info for the movie that I thought to myself, "Gee, I should really finally read that." I even have copies of the ARCs for books two and three that I picked up at subsequent BEAs!

 

So, in an effort to fulfill two of my reading resolutions this year - to clear books off of my endless TBR shelves and to read JUST FOR FUN - I picked this one up right at the beginning of the year.  I also desperately want to see the movie and felt like I would be guilty seeing it without reading the book first... LOL.

 

I actually enjoyed this one.  It's not my favorite series opener, but that's partly due to the fact that I'm not a real witch book reader.  I love magic in stories, things like Harry Potter, but for some reason when the people are openly called witches, it just hits a switch in my brain that says, eh. Weird. Anyway, I loved the atmosphere of this book. It's Southern Gothic and yet it also manages to be modern.  The flashbacks to the earlier generations and the way that Southerners hold so strongly to their heritage definitely give this effect.

 

I liked Lena and her awakening powers. I liked Ethan. I liked the supporting characters. I thought they were all quirky and kept my interest going throughout the whole story. I was amazed how quickly I got through this 600 page book. As I delved further into the story and had my suspicions about who was really good or bad or well... the pages just kept turning.  Other than having to lug the gigantic book around, I almost forgot how long it was.

 

As I said, although this is not my favorite new series, I am very excited to see the movie now.  There is something about this storyline that just translates to the screen, I think. I can totally see the larger than life magic and the epic good versus evil struggle making for an epic movie! I'll let you all know what I think once I've actually seen it. 

 

Full disclosure: ARC received at BEA in 2009

Awakened

Awakened
by P.C. and Kristin Cast
House of Night, book eight

Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey. Dominion over Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z. But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there. Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it? Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…

And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim? The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship? Does he betray his father or his heart?

In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart? (description taken from Amazon.com)

Can I tell you how much I like Stark? He is just so good to Zoey...and (without spoilers, I promise!!) I felt so bad for the way he was being used. I am on edge now waiting to see what the future holds for Stark and Zoey...

I was really pleased with how the good/bad mythology deepened in this book. The explainations of the black/white bulls and how they were as old as elemental magic and only manifested when the world was out of balance was very well done.

Trying not to get all spoilery...I loved the confrontations in this book. Lines were drawn, moral battles were waged, and though not everything came out in the open, Zoey and her friends definitely made their point. Along with a heartwrenching moment that almost killed me...some major decisions were made.

Though I just put it down last night, I am ready for the next book TODAY! *sigh* Hope the wait isn't TOO long.

Halo

Halo
by Alexandra Adornetto

Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone—especially herself—from the Dark Forces.

Is love a great enough power against evil? (description taken from Amazon.com)

I am conflicted about this book.

On the one hand I really love the premise. It is a great story of a "baby" angel coming to Earth, having to fight the forces of evil, and accidentally falling in mortal love while she's here. The characters are well drawn, compelling, and feel like they could jump right off the page.

On the other hand...Adornetto gives us too much. Every thing, person, and place HAD to be described. Every one. Every adverb or adjective I have ever learned was used in this book...in fact, I have an extensive vocabulary and there were several words used here that I had never heard before in my life. Not that that in itself is a bad thing, but when you have to pull out obscure vocabulary to get variety just because of the sheer volume of descriptors you use in a book...whew! Maybe it's a sign to edit.

That's what this book needed...one more edit. As I said, I loved the storyline...but at almost five hundred pages, this book could have been cut down to a more concise version. It may be partially due to the author's youth (she's eighteen) but I hope that Hades, coming out next year, is a little more...well less.

BTW - I love this cover!

Full disclosure: ARC originally received at BEA 2010, but audio book sent for review for AudioFile Magazine.

Lord Sunday

Lord Sunday
by Garth Nix
Keys to the Kingdom, book 7

Seven days.
Seven keys.
Seven virtues.
Seven sins.

In this thrilling conclusion to Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, Arthur Penhaligon must complete his quest to save the Kingdom he is heir to...and Arthur's world. (taken from Amazon.com)

This is the final book of the series and took quite a while to come out. Since it is the final book, I do not want to give anything away...but I will say simply that I was very pleased. There was a great deal of action. Though this is such a fantastically conceptual series, the things that happen to Arthur and his choices are actually very realistic and authentic feeling. Without giving anything away, I can say that what I loved best about the book is that Arthur is able to become the supernatural being that he has to be in order to get things done, yet never loses his inner humanity and moral compass. A well done end to the series.