July 1, 2024 – Actually, the only reason I went to see this movie is for the 3D, which is very good, but the movie is also a bit above average.

The 3D conversion here has excellent depth, and some popouts, too. Unlike “Kung Fu Panda 4,” which had a 3D conversion so weak it seemed no better than 2D. It appears that this film was made with 3D in mind, and more effort was made to make the 3D effective.

The story this time is more of the same, an old villain, Maxime Le Mal, escapes prison, seeking revenge against main character Felonious Gru, both for arresting him, and also for a prank Gru pulled on him in school years ago.

In true villain style Maxime plans to kidnap Gru's son, Gru Jr., his youngest child. Maxime also has mad scientist tendencies. He turns himself into a powerful human-cockroach hybrid, and invents a machine to do the same to others.

When the super-powered Maxime escapes, the Anti-Villain League places Gru and his family into a safe house with new identities in the city of Mayflower. Gru and his family must try to fit in to a normal suburbian lifestyle. Gru's fumbling attempts at suburban normality soon turn ridiculous.

A child brat living next door to Gru, Poppy Prescott, recognizes Gru and blackmails him into helping her steal the school mascot, a honey bear, from Gru's old school, Lycée Pas Bon. After a truly bizzare heist, Prescott is truly impressed with Gru, and the two become friends.

Even though Gru and Poppy had a lot of fun on this caper, it made them enemies of the formidable Lycée Pas Bon school principal, Übelschlecht, who would track them down and become an ally of Maxime against them.

Gru, Poppy, the Minions and the rest of Gru's family, all engage in a wild running war against Übelschlecht, Maxime and his femme fatale girlfriend, Valentina. The action features flying cars and a sort of giant insect machine. This war causes much noise and property damage.

There are some funny bits and sight gags, and the usual cultural references. The animation is high quality, and the 3D is above average. While the story is more of the same kind of thing often seen in animation sequels, it is well executed by directors Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage, both of whom have experience in previous “Despicable Me” movies. Writers Mike White and Ken Daurio, both have experience writing hit comedies.

Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig return to give voice to Gru and Gru's wife, Lucy, respectively, along with other well-known actors, like Will Ferrell as Maxime Le Mal, Sofía Vergara as Valentina, Stephen Colbert as Poppy's father, the snobbish Perry Prescott, and Steve Coogan as Silas Ramsbottom, director of the Anti-Villain League. This movie rates a C+.

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