Aglibot, Dianne A.
2006-33658
Math 100
October 14, 2010

Film Review: Despicable Me

As a fan of Pixar’s genius, I really sought out to see this movie as soon as it came out. But before that, I exhausted all of the film’s hilarious and engaging theatrical trailers. I also went out of my way to read a couple of the movie’s review. It might not have garnered not-so-good ratings but the plot, the cast, and also a bit because of the music all made me finally decide to go check it out. No one out there would think that being a super villain is hard. Especially when he has thousands of yellow globular minions who are perpetually loyal and ready to help him achieve his next evil plot. All he needs is his freeze ray gun, a pet that looks like a Venus Fly Trap with hind legs, and an armored tank for a car. Meet Gru—the friendliest of the super villains. The worst he does is to steal things. Huge things, that is. He once set out to steal the Pyramid of Giza but found out there’s someone out there who got to it first. He doesn’t like it that his work gets shadowed by some new super villain. He then realized he needed to step up his game. Without a bigger get, his mother will never respect him, the Bank of Evil won’t finance him, and his Minions will end up unemployed. But what’s bigger than a pyramid? Look up.

Gru wants to steal the moon. Turns out, Gru has always had the dream to rocket to the moon. So he now has a big chance to make a dream come true and get glory and honor at the same time. But how does one steal the moon? You shrink it of course! He may have his minions and Dr. Nefario to help him but they’re really never adept at making the real weapons. He then hatches a plan to steal this government-crafted shrink ray gun, which will prove to the Bank of Evil that he can cook up a great plan then he can get financing to build his rocket and viola! Best super villain ever!

But like other good plans out there, there’s bound to be some wrenches thrown into it. First, he finds out that it’s Vector, another super villain that has a lot going for him than it appears and is also a bit of an idiot, who stole his pyramid is now also vying out for the moon. Then the Bank of Evil declined him, and finally there was the addition of three adorable orphans. He ends up ‘adopting’ these kids as part of his plan to take down Vector and get the shrink ray gun. Margo, Edith, and Agnes are old-school Annie orphans, plucky and brave, three cookie-selling, Swan Lake-dancing gems who alternately like violence and unicorns. They slowly go about melting Gru's heart even when he'd rather skip the bedtime stories and let them walk to ballet class. And in between Gru’s gleeful hi-jinks and his (somewhat) evil plan, they just may be the ones that teach him that some things are more important than the moon, and that most of those things are available on Earth. It’s through these charming and innocent kids who Gru has learned to love that the audience is shown just how important family is than most things that occupy each one of us.

The cast of the film has got to be the bigger reason why I watched Despicable Me more than the plot. Steve Carell just established himself a true comedy artist as he voiced Gru in a funny constricted German accent. The rest of the cast did an excellent job as well like Russell Brand, Jason Segel, Will Arnett, and of course, Julie Andrews. The orphans were voiced amusingly as well by real kids. The animation is not the best of Pixar but in general is still quite amazing. And it also added to the atmosphere of the film as shown with the animation of the delightful and lovable minions. I saw it non-3D so I won’t know if it was better viewed that way. The movie lacks action though, so 3D may not really live up to the film.

I don’t know if it’s the film but I realized I’m not one for family-oriented animated films. The substance of the comedy of Despicable Me is just too juvenile for me. Some of the antics of the characters like the minions and the orphan kids were cute but was overly repeated and so bordered on annoying. The plot in itself lacks the smooth connections with minute storylines. I really thought that Gru’s relationship with his mother would be a big part of the story but I was utterly disappointed. The introduction of the kids also added to the disorganization of the plot. It wasn’t believable that the only way to get back at Vector and steal the shrink gun was to adopt the kids. Gru's developing relationship with the girls also doesn't fit all that well with the supervillain rivalry plot, and the script bounces somewhat haphazardly between family bonding and Gru's scheming in the basement.

I did make the big mistake of watching too many trailers as well as the ‘the making of Despicable Me’ since it basically shows every essential storylines of the movie. I also spoiled myself with the crucial punch lines of the movie when they already appeared on every trailer. I was left looking for more as I sat out the more-than-an-hour long film. A family may have enjoyed the movie more since this is made for them kids.