Review of Despicable Me (2010) by Stevenf — 15 May 2013

Despicable Me deals in the absurd and comes out winning on every level. Why is it that the villains of a film also make for more memorable and worthwhile characters? This is pretty much what the film surrounds itself with, all these villains attempting to outdo each other by becoming the greatest villain ever known.

Steve Carell voices Gru, an evil mastermind who isn't feeling quite as evil these days, someone has stolen the Great Pyramid, and is now considered the greatest villain in the world, much to the dismay of Gru.

The thief in question is Vector (Jason Segel) who seems like an accidental villain, simple minded and naive. but with the typical evil lair that is just too funny to ignore, sharks, missiles and hidden rooms, the film is rich with cliche but knows that it is, making it that much more enjoyable.

Gru aims to better the pyramid raid by stealing the moon, thats right, the moon. With the help of his trusted mad scientist Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) and his hilarious minions called the, er.. Minions, he hatches a plan to finally be called the best.

But when he must infiltrate Vectors lair to retrieve a sonic ray that reduces the size of any object, he is upstaged by all the gadgets on show, so he adopts three orphan girls so as he can get them to deliver robot cookies to the house so as he can move forward with his plan. But who knew he was going to pick the most loveable and funniest of the bunch.

Agnes is the smallest of the trio, and by far the funniest, she sees and believes things that the others don't, and truly sees a father figure in Gru.

It's difficult for a fresh comedy to come in and leave a lasting impression without falling into the same routine of previous attempts, but the film manages to take a very popular and gestated idea and basically poke fun at its own absurdity, and that is where the true laughter lies in this film, the fast-paced animation we are used to seeing in a Pixar film are present here, mixed with a perfect variation of characters and a brilliant voice cast that also includes Julie Andrews and Will Arnett.

A truly funny and original film has been created with Despicable Me, it has the absurdity and laughter of a one-liner comedy but the heart and assurance of a Pixar classic, without being a Pixar film.