Colourful, joyful and great family fun; like its predecessor, Despicable Me 2 will amuse kids while keeping the adults on board.

In 2010, Despicable Me introduced us to Gru (Carell), a bumbling but warm-hearted super villain. In his quest to become the most infamous villain in the world by stealing the moon, he wound up adopting a trio of orphaned girls; Margo, Edith and Agnes.

Despicable Me 2 picks up where that film left off, with Gru as a retired villain and single father, struggling to deal with the problems of growing girls (like texting boys!). The thrust of the film is the arrival of the Anti-Villain League, who enlist Gru’s help, as someone who knows how a villain thinks, to save the world.

Gru’s adorable yellow minions are back, with a slew of new highly amusing escapades, as well as Dr. Nefario (Brand), Gru’s elderly gadget-man. The film also introduces us to Lucy Wilde (Wiig); an agent of the Anti-Villain League, with whom Gru finds a romantic connection.

Despicable Me 2 takes the solidly entertaining foundation of the first film and builds on its world and characters to create another entertaining thrill ride. Kids will appreciate the bright colours, cartoonish style, and cute humour. Adults will appreciate the quality of the story and characters, as well as the not-so-cute humour. This is definitely a movie best enjoyed as a family affair!

With so many franchises faltering after just one sequel, the Fast and Furious series has somehow managed to buck the trend, with each new instalment – including this, its sixth and latest – exhilarating cinemagoers more than the one before. The key to its success? Reinvention.

Fast Five retooled the series’s engine into a heist thriller and added the nitrous injection that is Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson into the mix. Long gone is the focus on small-time street racers and Furious Six (this film’s official title) continues on that path, with the plot revolving around Dom (Diesel) and his team being recruited by Johnson’s international lawman to take on a group of mercenaries specialising in vehicular warfare.

If you’ll remember, at the end of the last film, Dom’s crew had just successfully pulled off a $100 million heist and disappeared around the globe. So what could possibly bring them back? The answer is the return of Dom’s old flame, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who was seemingly killed off in the fourth film and is now a part of Owen Shaw’s (Luke Evans) villainous crew.

Soap-opera-style plot developments aside, Furious Six delivers with awe-inspiring action sequences featuring not only souped-up cars, but tanks and planes too, all topped off with some thrilling hand-to-hand fights. And isn’t that all you really need from a film like this?

Be sure to also stick around as the credits start rolling for a promising tease of the fast-tracked (pun fully intended) seventh instalment, set to hit cinema screens in just a year’s time. Bring it on!