Review of Despicable Me (2010) by Joanna B — 28 Feb 2016

What's the obvious choice for a supervillan's retirement? Becoming a dad...

Hidden deep in white-picket-fence culture of suburbia, lays one solitary out-of-place house; the secret lair of the world's greatest villain.

As an evil supervillian with is-to-want, Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) delights in all things wicked. Gru's self-esteem however; which has been chipped away since birth by his nit-picking Dame Edna-esque mother (voiced by Julie Andrews), takes a severe blow when a geeky, gadget-obsessed up-and-coming super villain named Vector (voiced by Jason Segal) pulls off the phenomenal heist of the Egyptian pyramids.

Not content to roll-over and retire the supervillan game, Gru hatches a new plan. With the tireless efforts of his army of miniature yellow minions and the assistance of a mad scientist colleague Dr Nefario (voiced by Russel Brand), Gru devises the biggest heist in history, drawing up plans to steal the moon, itself.

Strapped for cash, Gru must get a loan from the Supervillian bank; however Bank manager Mr Perkins is not so enthusiastic. Highlighting to Gru, that not only does not have all of the shrink rays, freeze rays and battle-ready vehicles he needs; but that the key piece to his plan is in-fact the property of arc-nemesis Vector and hidden in his highly protected fortress.

Gru, intent on vanquishing anyone who stands in his way, repeatedly attempts to infiltrate Victor's lair, but to no avail. Determined not to be thwarted, Gru finally realizes Victors Achilles heel; his weakness for coconut cookies and the three cute-as-pie little orphaned girls who deliver them.

Hatching a new evil plan, Gru visits the nasty Miss Hannigan's Orphanage in aid of adopting Margo, Edith and Agnes and becoming a dad.

Will this evil mastermind be sidetracked? Is he prepared for his greatest challenge yet? Will Gru be able to resist the immense heart-melting power of the girls love, or will his true nature prevail?

Turning up the cute factor too 1000%, Despicable Me is a kooky feel good 3D extravaganza. Beautifully realized and superbly executed, this is good versus evil with a twist. Full of deliciously silly characters, whacky gizmos and intriguing adult references (namely the godfather), its simplicity is what makes this film so effective.

The wonderfully crafted little yellow minions steal each scene. Blatantly modeled on the "claw" aliens of Pixar's Toy Story, there is certain draw to these creatures Pixar was not able to capture. With a certain child-like quality of there own, they get into all kinds of mischievous situations whilst squeaking a cute but distinguishable language of there own. Obvious destined for spin-off greatness, its no surprise Universal Studios has already announced its plans for a sequel in 2013.

The Verdict: Don't worry about the pretense that you need to be escorting a child to see this kid's movie, its brilliant for all ages. Just go and have fun.

Published: The Queanbeyan Age.

Date of Publication: 17/09/2010.