Despicable Me 2 was funnier than its predecessor because it had “more minions”, so putting the sidekicks centre-stage should ramp up the laughs even further, right? Although the opening “minions through history” sequence proves a very tough act to follow, this slice of burbling slapstick animation did keep me grinning and giggling throughout. The plot follows Kevin, Stuart and Bob from Antarctica to Orlando, where the 1968 Villain-Con unites them with Sandra Bullock’s rocket-skirted Scarlet Overkill. Scarlet dreams of being the Queen of England, but a botched Tower of London heist leaves HRH (Jennifer Saunders) in the pub and King Bob on the throne – albeit briefly. It’s gloriously silly but still pop-culture-literate stuff (was that Stanley Kubrick faking the moon landing?), packed with dizzyingly frenetic action and fabulously expressive verbal gobbledygook, the latter largely courtesy of co-director Pierre Coffin. I started laughing the moment I heard the minions singing the Universal theme in their helium-inflected tones, and remained tickled yellow for the following 90 minutes.
