Despicable Me (PG)
Mike:
Mike: Tonight we are reviewing the new animated comedy Despicable Me
I think this is very funny and a great family film. The movie is clever and should appeal to kids and parents alike. It may not be the latest masterpiece from Pixar, but the film is superior to most summer fare aimed at kids. You may already be sick of it because of the constant bombardment of commercials and I wouldn’t blame you. Overlook the advertising overkill and you will find that you have not seen all the best jokes already. Although I will admit they had me roped in when I saw the gag about the invention that was supposed to be a “dart” gun, not something that sounds like that.
The always funny Steve Carrell plays Gru, the giant evil genius who wants to steal the moon. His accent from a country that doesn’t exist makes everything seem that much funnier. Funny accents always crack me up. Haven’t you ever noticed that everything Craig Ferguson says is funnier purely because of that great Scottish dialect?
Gru used to be the genius at the top of the heap, but a new young upstart named Vector (Jason Segel) has taken over. Gru and his partner Dr Nefario (Russell Brand) decide to steal a shrink ray and then shrink the moon to regain his fame. The rest of the story is the old evil villain adopts some girls and then he softens up plot that we have seen a million times before.
…Oh wait, no we haven’t.
The great thing is that not only are the girls Margo, Edith and Agnes as cute as they can be, but that they are funny. Really I found every character in the film to be funny on some level. Remember when I said that accents are funny? You know what else is funny? Little oompa loompa characters called minions who don’t even speak a recognizable language of any kind. The fact that they don’t say anything that you can understand, short of the occasional “Whaaaat?” is pretty funny. Even though they are everywhere in the ads, luckily they don’t overrun the other characters in the movie.
In case you are afraid that this movie is only funny because of jokes and funny accents, don’t worry because there is plenty of slapstick. Even the clothes and vehicles and tiny shrunken stuff are funny. Alright if that is not your speed, then let’s go back to the voice talent. If you are like me, then you spend at least some of the movie trying to guess voices. Some will be obvious, but some will stump you because the characters don’t look anything like the voice actors. Julie Andrews plays Gru’s mom and frankly if I hadn’t read it ahead of time, there is no way I would have guessed. The voices are rounded out by our usual suspects from SNL, 30 Rock and The Office: Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Jack McBrayer and Mindy Kaling. Its interesting that those are all NBC shows. Hmm.
So what did I think of this?
I think you can tell that I liked it, so I give this a 4 out of 5 overall. I am partial to animated films, but I could easily go see this one again. I probably wouldn’t pay extra for the 3 D, though. It really doesn’t add much, except over the closing credits. Maybe I’ll take my nephews with me this time.
