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Following on the heels of Toy Story 3, Despicable Me is more proof that the best summer movies are of the animated kind. While it won't stay with me the way Pixar's film did, Despicable Me is an enjoyablereport this review for TOS violationedy with a very funny script and great voice work by the always reliable Steve Carrell.
Carrell plays Gru, a supervillain recently overshadowed by younger, better villain Vector (while Vector successfully steals the Great Pyramid, Gru can only steal the Statue of Liberty from New York, New York in Vegas). Gru decides he needs to do something big. His plan: shrink the moon and steal it. However, he needs to get the shrink ray that Vector has, so he adopts three orphans for the purpose of sneaking in and stealing it. Of course, Gru finds that dealing with these three young ladies is more difficult than he expected.
While the story is pretty predictable (anyone who has seen The Grinch Who Stole Christmas knows how it goes) there's enough here to make things really enjoyable. The filmmakers take a chance making the lead a baddy, but Carrell makes the character sympathetic enough that we actually want him to succeed. There's a lot of references to old Loony Toons cartoons, and current jokes thrown in for the adults. And Gru's minions (blobby, green, pill looking guys) are just asking for their own spin-off.
While the rest of the multiplex follows the same boring, bombastic path, animation is pushing the limits of entertainment. Despicable Me is another in the line of films that are seemingly made for kids, but are entertaining enough for adults. You may not remember it later, but you'll be happy while you're there.
Following on the heels of Toy Story 3, Despicable Me is more proof that the best summer movies are of the animated kind. While it won't stay with me the way Pixar's film did, Despicable Me is an enjoyablereport this review for TOS violationedy with a very funny script and great voice work by the always reliable Steve Carrell.