I just watched it for the first time and...
I like DM1 much better. I don't think this movie is bad per se, I just think it had so much wasted potential. I'll go with my pros.
Pros:
Great animation
Very Funny
Fun
Great continuation of the original including numerous references
Lucy's great
The girls are great as usual
The voice acting is top-notch, especially with Steve Carrell again
Some funny side characters like Julianne and Shannon
Now for the cons.
Cons:
Messy story with too many unneeded and unresolved sub-plots (i.e. Margo and Antonio)
Bad villain. I like Al Pacino, but El Macho is stereotypical and stupid. Not nearly as good as Vector
Too much minions. I love them just as much as the next person, but they are overused so much in this movie, that they become central to the plot. But you can't blame them because the "cha-ching" from families and little kids is too loud for Illumination to hear this problem, and guess what, now we have a full frickin' movie about these guys!
Lacks the heart of the first, and again, it could have had it with the girls and wanting a mother, but it's potential was wasted. In DM1, the orphan girls and Gru starting to love them over time is extremely heart-felt and sometimes made me tear up
Why so much comedy? After every other sentence we get a joke, some slapstick, or something trying to bring a laugh out of everyone for no reason. And unfortunately, some of these missed.....really.....hard
Dr. Nefario is underused and his little quick goodbye for an evil job, which, by the way was a HUGE SHOCK that the job was with the villain, and sudden good will to save the heroes makes no sense.
The plot is achingly predictable. I predicted all the main plot points. Gru will get with Lucy, Antonio is El Macho's son, Margo and Antonio won't be together that long, Eduardo is El Macho, Dr. Nefario's new job is with El Macho, Lucy will come back after wanting to see Gru again and be captured by El Macho, and the minions are part of El Macho's evil plan. I'm not kidding! I actually predicted this in my own head during the movie! I was waiting for something special, something to get me engaged again, and something to surprise me, but nothing happened.
Again, it's not a bad movie, but as it is, in my opinion, it is a mediocre and stupid attempt for a sequel to an amazing movie such as Despicable Me. So much potential and excitement......wasted for more $$$$$$ from all the families and their little kids with stuffed Minions wearing Minion t-shirts.....