Sequel’s Gru no longer the villain of the piece

MOVIE: DESPICABLE ME 2

CAST: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig,

Benjamin Bratt

RATING: PG

After seeing this sequel to 2010’s surprise animated hit, the makers might want to change the title from Despicable Me to Delightful Me.

To backtrack a minute, the clever, charming original came with a hero who was a scheming super villain attempting to steal the Moon. Three adorable orphan girls steal his heart in return.

It was all very Little Orphan Annie, with the innately animated Steve Carell voicing Gru — an inspired European spin on the cantankerous Daddy Warbucks.

But while this inevitable sequel is just as fun and as loopy as a Looney Tunes cartoon, it sees the super villain become a super-soppy, super-protective surrogate dad.

If Despicable Me 2 went any mushier into cutesy romance territory, its pint-sized fans might throw popcorn at the screen.

Perhaps stealing the Moon was always going to be too tough an act to follow but this far lighter, less-inspired sequel seems more family friendly than any comedy about a super villain should be. But it’s still a delightfully daffy hoot.

Gru has embraced his newly domesticated life after adopting Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and the adorably doe-eyed Agnes (Elsie Fisher). He’s even switched his double life for a jelly-and-jam-making business.

Yet Gru soon finds himself in a stickier situation when he’s kidnapped by Anti-Villain League agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) and recruited to stop El Macho (Benjamin Bratt), a notorious villain who’s stolen a top-secret transmutation serum.

There’s a nice twist involving Gru’s resident mad scientist Dr Nefario (Russell Brand) and some funny one-liners about AVL head honcho Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan).

Can you guess them?

But DM2 is all about the bad guy becoming the good guy and his budding romance with Lucy, his spindly Olive Oyl-ish partner in crime. They have a lovely Maxwell Smart/Agent 99 dynamic, especially when she spots Gru sporting a wig on a date with a Kardashian type.

Yet all this new-found heart robs the sequel of its clever flipping of stereotypes and makes it a far softer, cushier kids’ comedy than they might expect.

Can you say spin-off movie?

It’s already underway.

Despicable Me 2 is out now.