Fridge Brilliance
- During Gru's flashback in the sequel, we learn that he was a pariah among his classmates and they said that getting near him would give them the "Gruuties". Now, remember that the flashback happened sometime in 1969: When the Red Scare was still happening because of the Cold War between Russia and America; the Red Scare was the fear of Communists (Russian spies) invading the U.S. and Gru had a heavy accent that made everyone know he was originally from Russia. And the parents probably warned their kids about Communists. So, Gru's All of the Other Reindeer childhood also came from the fact that the kids were scared that Gru would "infect them and make them betray their country."
- Why did Gru give up on romance just because of that one girl in his childhood? Well, given the fact that his mother wasn't exactly supportive towards his dream of going to the moon, constantly rejecting his attempts to impress him. Then, Gru's first crush coldly rejects his attempt to ask her out...along with the other children. Having both your own mother and first crush insensitively and coldly reject you in some way...the emotional scars can do some real damage.
- It's pretty hard to notice, but in the first movie we get a brief look at Gru's whole family tree; if one were to look more closely, one of the member's name was "Lucy". A sequel later we are introduced to LUCY Wilde. A small foreshadowing that Lucy of the sequel would enter the Gru Family via by marrying Gru. Now there are two 'Lucy Grus'!
- In the trope: Blond, Brunette, Redhead, Edith is the Blond, Margo's the Brunette, and Agnes is the Redhead by default (she's technically a brunette, but she wears a red headband). Lucy Wilde is also a redhead; now of all the girls, who was the most insistent that Gru liked Lucy and should marry her? Agnes. Why you may ask? Because they're both redheads!
- There's also the fact that Lucy and Agnes have nearly the same color motif: Turquoise and Blue, respectively.
- Gru is the moon and Lucy is the sun. Both celestial bodies that are connected to each other, both equals, and are the same, yet opposite. Without one, the other can't exist. A subtle Foreshadowing that Gru and Lucy would marry by the end of the sequel.
- Look at how Gru uses his Freeze Ray and Lucy uses her Flamethrower on each other; Lucy's Flamethrower represents the Sun and Gru's Freeze Ray represents the moon.
- Watch closely at them after they land in the water, after the volcano explodes. Gru is in the darkness, like the Moon is; then when Lucy emerges from the water, light surrounds her, almost like how the Sun rises in the morning. Finally, when both just stare at each other in the same position.
- Gets even more brilliant when you notice their type of clothing: Gru wears black clothing, the color that the Moon is surrounded by. Lucy's dress is turquoise, a type of blue, which is the usual color that always around the Sun.
- Also consider this: Gru's bald head could represent the Moon, while Lucy's red locks could represent the Sun.
- Each had their own Love Epiphany during their respective time. To explain, Gru has his at night and Lucy's was in the morning.
- More brilliance when you realize that in the Red Oni, Blue Oni duo that Gru is the Blue (the Moon) and Lucy is the red (the Sun).
- Gru realizes his feelings for Lucy after the latter saved him from his date with the obnoxious Shannon. Why then? Lucy did the thing that he would do if he had his Freeze Ray. Also, remember what Gru did in the first movie when the carnival barker was being a jerk to Agnes? Turns out, Gru and Lucy are not so different.
- Other reasons that he started to have feelings for her, but didn't want to acknowledge are: First, Lucy Wilde knows how to kick butt and he's impressed by her being as much as a badass as he is. Second, she's the yin to his yang; they're both so different, yet so similar. And last, but certainly not least, Lucy liked him for who he is; something that his first crush and Shannon obviously didn't.
- Look closely at the color of Gru's bowtie, vest and handkerchief at his and Lucy's wedding: Their all turquoise, which is the exact color of Lucy's signature dress.
- With the addition of Lucy in Gru's family, Gru now has a family consisting of every hair color. Lucy is a redhead, Margo is a brown-haired brunette, Edith is a blond, and Agnes is a black-haired brunette. All of them aren't blood related to each other, which is the point. The movie's theme or one of the themes is that a family doesn't have to be related by blood to be a family.
- Look closely at Lucy's wedding attire: She's wearing a white dress with frills at the bottom and has a crown on her head. Now, remember what the girls wore doing their ballet recital at the end of the first movie? Almost the same thing as Lucy in the sequel. Like daughters, like mother.
- Becomes a Heartwarming Moment when you notice Agnes' dress at the wedding: unlike her sisters, it has two frills, instead of three. Lucy also only has two frills on her dress. In the most sweetest and subtle ways, Agnes was dressing like her mother.
- Why was the jelly Gru made with Dr. Nefario and the Minions so disgusting? Well, consider the fact that the jelly is made of every fruit available; sometimes when you mix two things (i.e. vinegar and oil), they just don't mix together. Another reason is that Gru forgot to remove the seeds in the fruits with them and some of the Minions stomped on the fruit with their dirty and unclean shoes. All of that can lead to very, very badly tasting jelly. Plus, Gru is more of a technology guy, not agricultural.
- Plus, all those different flavors are enough to overwhelm one's taste buds.
- If it contains every "fruit" it would also include tomatoes. Tomatoes aren't exactly renowned for being in jelly, especially with other fruits (probably for a reason).
- Technically they are, we just call tomato jelly 'ketchup'.
- Or just the fact there were bananas in that fruit mix, and considering the "fruit hat" minion, they were unpeeled.
- And Dr. Nefario precises "every existing type of berry"... without saying that any potentially poisonous types of berries had been removed.
- It may also include other fruits that are technically berries, such as bananas, watermelons, and AVOCADOS. Not a great mix with the other types of berries.
- While I understand all these reasons (an unpeeled banana being turned into jelly? Ew.), I always assumed that it tasted bad because a Minion fell down the tube. Gross.
- Why is Gru so protective of Margo? Aside from being a stereotypical father, Gru actually has a good reason to be this way- Margo, back when she was kidnapped by Vector, nearly fell to her death. Gru barely caught her thanks to the help of the Minions. No one after that experience can come out not wanting to ensure his/her daughter is safe!
- The wig store's auto-doors only open when Gru bends lower - because the wig store owner is pretty short, so he probably had to recalibrate the sensors a bit.
- Agnes and her apparently random Super-Scream ability makes more sense if you remember the first movie, where she holds her breath as a threat and Margo says this happens all the time. Charles Atlas Superpower anyone?
- You can tell Gru took Lucy's lesson of not Calling Your Attacks to heart when he turns the Freeze Ray on Antonio without so much as a word. Bonus Stealth Pun, as Gru's attitude at the time was stone cold.
- Why does Lucy attack Dave the Minion even though she has seen Minions after she abducted Gru? Well, Lucy already stated she was a master of Krav Maga, Jiu Jitsu, Aztec Warfare, and krumping, and she has a dangerous job; so she's always on alert.
- Gru and Lucy have one more thing in common: Their bosses. Overweight men who are in charge of something (Perkins to the Bank of Evil and Silas to the AVL), Jerkasses (although, Silas is on the good side). They also cause a Tearjerker to both of them: Perkins informing Gru that he wouldn't send money to him to go to the moon and Silas informing Gru that Lucy was being reassigned to Australia.
- When Gru and Lucy escape the flying rocket and into the water, why does it take Lucy a while longer to come out of the water than Gru? If once adds up the weight of the duo and impact from the rocket entering the volcano (which is probably huge), it makes sense. Lucy is much skinnier than the bulky Gru, the impact would have had more effect on her.
- Why would Gru send Nefario off with a 21-gun fart gun salute? Well, would he trust the minions with any other kind of gun?
- Eduardo's necklace when he is out of his supervillain garb is the symbol of El Macho, the "M" turned on its side.
- Regarding Antonio, where IS his mother? Look to Gru and Eduardo/El Macho's conversation at the Cinco de Mayo party, while Gru's bummed about Lucy leaving. Eduardo essentially tells Gru that he, too, has suffered a broken heart; there's a high possibility that this woman he loved was Antonio's mother. As to why she would leave, any number of reasons arise.
- The woman on the portrait when Gru and Lucy sneak into Eduardo's kitchen may either be Eduardo's mother, or Antonio's. Likewise it's rather possible that Eduardo left villainy to concentrate on his family, much like Gru, and the breakup may have tossed him back into villainy. If this theory is true, this makes El Macho an Evil Counterpart of Gru.
- Right before Gru finds out that Lucy is leaving for Australia, there's an establishing shot of the Eagle Hair Club being contained, and in that, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of an AVL official looking up from her clipboard and glaring at Gru. It was minor, but it bothered me. However, after remembering Lucy's line about the other members refusing to work with Gru because of his past, I just now realized that the worker in question may have been one of those who refused to work with Gru, and her glare was actually a nod to the other members who were against Gru's involvement in the AVL.
- Gru calling Silas "Mr. Sheepsbutt" as an insult is a bit of brilliance: A ram is a male sheep, and bottom means butt.
- The costumes the girls wear at Agnes's birthday party makes sense.
- Margo = Knight; She's protective over her sisters.
- Edith = Ninja; Edith is the sneakiest of her sisters.
- Agnes = Princess with a Unicorn; Agnes apparently loves fantasy and is a HUGE fan of unicorns.
- Counts as Fridge Heartwarming: Looking closely at the guests at Gru and Lucy's wedding, one notices that out of all the female attendants (the girls, Marlena, Shannon, Natalie, and Jillian), only the girls are wearing clothing that is similar to the bride, Lucy. What does this mean? Margo, Edith, and Agnes were Lucy's bridesmaids.
- The Minions have numerous abilities already, as shown in the first Despicable Me film. And added to that, they can shake off just about any injury. No wonder El Macho used the formula on them; all their abilities, plus the ones added by the formula and the insanity that accompanies it, would make them the most dangerous killing machines out there, the kind that cannot even be harmed.
- What song was playing when Antonio and Margo were dancing? "Where Them Girls At?" The next scene then deals with Antonio dancing with another girl.
- Gru's decision to quit villainy actually makes sense — He didn't make an official Heel–Face Turn. He became a father. And unlike working for the AVL, if Gru was ever caught doing villainous activities, he would lose custody of his daughters. Again. Of course he wouldn't want to do go through that kind of pain a second time.
- When the Minions respond to the fire in Gru's room after he sets the phone on fire, one of them wear sirens on their heads and sings the tune that sirens have. I mean, it's annoying for sure, but he does it with venom on his face - maybe it reminded him of Lucy affectionately doing the same thing through the earpiece?
- There's a subtle piece of foreshadowing that El Macho's 'death' was fake even before Gru's history lesson to Lucy is over: no matter how manly riding a shark into a volcano with dynamite set to explode is, it's still ultimately suicide, and suicide is the coward's way out.
- Why did Gru even go to the Cinco de Mayo party, despite not only declining earlier but the AVL calling the case over? One of the reasons Gru was "forced" to accept the 5 de Mayo party was not only to make the girls have fun, but 1. because it was the only lead that Gru had to prove The Macho wrong. He was gonna finish the AVL case by going rogue, as if it was the only way he could to avenge Lucy going to Australia. 2. Because he was genuinely really worried about what the Macho could do, specially with the video of the serum he was shown a lot earlier in the film. He knew the Macho was a vile villain, so Gru felt like he wouldnt let any chances.
Fridge Horror
- What happens to Antonio now that his father has gone to jail?
- Lucy told Gru that she had used her lipstick taser on a couple of her dates. Might be seen as a Rule of Funny, but what could those dates have done or almost done to Lucy, to make her resort to violence?
- Lucy resorts to violence at the drop of a hat. She resorted to violence when Gru's date Shannon was merely being obnoxious.
- Actually, Lucy resorted to violence when Shannon began bullying him and was about to humiliate him in public. Prior to that, Lucy was only curious; once the date got verbally abusive and threatened him, she immediately goes for the dart gun. Which, again, brings the question: Just what kind of dates has she been on to make this such a natural reaction for her?
- It's a slapstick movie. Gru freezes people in a coffee shop in the first movie. Are we going to intuit that he's suffered some trauma that makes him hate waiting in lines? Lucy wanted to talk to Gru and she realized that he wanted out of the date when Shannon was being an obnoxious jerk, so Lucy fired a dart gun. This is the same woman who knocked Gru out and stuffed him in her trunk for the entire trip to HQ. It's a natural response because that was the quickest way to get rid of the date and she's not exactly in tune with the consequences of her eccentric behavior.
- "Are we going to intuit that he's suffered some trauma that makes him hate waiting in lines?" No. But to be honest, that'd only add to his Hilariously Abusive Childhood, which would mean that it would make sense. Considering how Lucy and Gru are not so different, it'd make sense for her to be in similar situations as well.
- Lucy resorts to violence at the drop of a hat. She resorted to violence when Gru's date Shannon was merely being obnoxious.
- Gru is kidnapped and one point and stuffed in the trunk of a car. The trunk opens later and the underside is shown to have no ventilation holes.
- To be fair, this is a car that goes underwater, so ventilation holes probably would've been worse. But how did that starfish get in there?
- Word of God has confirmed that Lucy's parents were killed when she was very young. So much can be interpreted by that: Was she there when the killing took place? Why were her parents murdered? Did anyone take care of her afterwards?
- A What If? scenario but what if Gru had never been involved in the serum case? Remember that the AVL wasn't very fond of Gru, only reason he was even brought to that was because he stole the moon and "retired" after that. The world would have absolutely been in ruins, had Gru not interfered and suspected of El Macho. Take into account that El Macho was somewhat reckless too.
