Working to the principle that you don’t mess with a winning formula, directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud deliver more warm-hearted thrills and slapstick spills in the action-packed sequel to their delightful 2010 computer-animated adventure.

Despicable Me 2 doesn’t quite attain the dizzy heights of the original and lacks some of the heart-tugging emotion and warmth that epitomised Gru’s journey from cackling arch-villain to surrogate father. Young audiences won’t care a jot though, because the action sequences are bigger, including a James Bond-style opening sequence over the Arctic Circle, and the humour is just as silly.

Screenwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul have realised that the Minions are the star attraction, scene-stealing with googly-eyed gusto, so the diminutive yellow sidekicks are pushed squarely to the fore in the second madcap mission. They are firmly embedded in the main plot, almost elbowing Gru and his girls into the shadows, including the introduction of a new hybrid of Minion a la Gizmo and Strike in Gremlins that surely doubles the merchandising opportunities.