Review of Despicable Me 3 (2017) by Leo S — 19 Aug 2017

Is Gru returning or saying goodbye?

After the unthinkingly massive success that DreamWorks Animation got in world of children's cinema seven years ago, Gru and his fellow believers became, at the speed of light, in cult characters and direct representatives of pop culture, attaining, at the expense of their magnetic attraction components for audience (a funny and vile villain, a triad of girls with unbearably loving eyes and yellow beings in the form of pills that communicate each other by mixing dozens of languages) a second installment directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud and a spin-off in 2015. Today, it arrives-using as inspiration the money generated by the three previous ones-a third film with Gru as "only" protagonist, cornering a second place to the Minions, alternating their participation in form of escape quite similar to John Sturges's "The Great Escape" with Agnes' cravings for meeting a unicorn in the real world, a loving sub-plot between Margo and a village dweller, Lucy's efforts to become a good mother, the ghosts from the past that instigate Gru to leave behind the life of responsible father, the impact that his twin brother causes and the chase of the main villain who radiates 80's style through and through. They said that Hollywood original ideas had no longer a place in an American blockbuster, they are wrong, here there are, but with an oversaturation of stories that conclude condemning the feature film to the ranks of the summer film for lucrative purposes, one brimming with nutty entertainment just like the franchise.

The new ingredients of the recipe are introduced with independence, namely, are like mini-episodes attached with roughness in a story where coherence is conspicuous by its absence, but after all, that's the meaning of an animated film, a manumission from the ordinary world for the audience, however, doesn't enable it to insert a jerk of situations as diverse as unrelated. In addition to repletion of ideas that aren't boldness, there's a technical and visual section that doesn't exhibit fresh optimizations, the optical potential of a couple of scenes is hampered by the interception of previously commented sub-plots. Nonetheless, there is room for drama and action sequences, orchestrated with ability, in which they employ a palette of vivacious colors, graphics emulating reality with care and a photography elevating Chris Meledandri's proposal to the next level, at least visually.

Regarding the most recent affiliations, antagonist Balthazar Bratt, an eighties star who is turned down publicly and commercially thanks to the arrival of pubescence and Dru, Gru's twin brother, an almost identical clone of the main character, except for a fulgent blonde mane and a snowy trousseau, provide a breath of fresh air to a universe with immeasurable possibilities ranging from peripheral products to worthy characters of their own installment, however, the captured effect isn't bilateral. Bratt's introduction, deploying a James Bond-style espionage plot, in the first two acts is tedious, lifeless and discouraged, it's not until the final apotheosis the extravagances of the former child idol consolidate motivations by which he goes villainy, crushing, allegorically, the emblematic Hollywood sign located at Monte Lee, Los Angeles. Dru doesn't get a completely interesting and innovative treatment, as a standalone character, however, his development is more enjoyable when he does a duet with his brother, opening the way for slapstick comedy. It's engrossing the final twist that, without resorting to spoilers, is a required and coherent exit to continue with the general leitmotiv of the universe.

One more time, we again witness amusing and argumentative expertise containing the Minions as supporting characters. They pass through a strike against their own master, the participation in a singing talent show and the escape of a high-security prison. Without a doubt, they're Squirrel Scraft counterpart in "Ice Age" franchise, that was used as a magnetic mechanism, something audience loves, especially the little ones.

The atmosphere impregnated by the villain is something unexplored for Dreamworks animations, making use of angles and editions of that time, in order to give cohesion to the past of the villain, nonetheless, visual achievements are not enough, they got with the character; soundtrack, present in most of his appearances, is made up of classics already established as "Bad" by Michael Jackson or "99 Luftballons" by Nena, beating around the bush with own musical compositions that had to be highlighted in the film.

With a story going nowhere because of the torrent of sub plots that the screenwriters embed in the middle of the footage, "Despicable Me 3", directed by Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda and Eric Guillon, will please lovers of animated espionage and adults avid for an evening of cinema without demands, at the expense of the voice performances, the inherently hilarious occurrences of the Minions and incessant references to the 80's culture. For everyone else, the latest foray into children's cinema, the result of the alliance between Illumination and Dreamworks, falls by the wayside thanks to a creative mess that cannot be saved by a graphic section worthy of consideration, something that is not a matter of surprise nowadays.