Review of Despicable Me 3 (2017) by Michael M — 29 Dec 2018

While I really liked the first Despicable Me, the rest of the franchise has mostly been mostly mediocre for me. Minions never lived up to it's potential, and Despicable Me 2 lost a lot of the fun because when you make Gru a good guy a lot of the fun is lost.

Honestly, I don't really even remember a lot of Despicable 2. Despicable Me 3 is a bit better, but it still has a lot of the same problems. To start with what I like, for one it actually feels like the pop culture datedness of it has been toned down a bit.

Maybe I've just become numb to this in movies recently, but I didn't notice it as much in this one. The main villain has a distinct 80s theme going, but this is tied to his character, and not just a grab at "hey, this is what kids are into!" so it actually works.

They don't just do things like have the characters take selfies to be hip. A low bar but, godamn, I really appreciated it. I also really liked the climax, because we get to see Gru use his more villainous skills.

It's essentially a heist sequence, and damnit all I'll just never get sick of a heist scene. Plus, it's a heist scene in the Despicable Me world, and this is a weirdass world they've created, so it was a ton of fun.

I also actually really liked the arc of the minions. They leave Gru because he's no fun as a good guy (which makes sense, seriously that did always bother me with their characters), and wind up in prison, which they basically take over.

It's weird, but it leads to some really funny stuff. But this leads to the movies problems. It's funny, at times it's really funny, but it's largely a series of loosely connected sketches.

There's not a lot that ties it together. There's a main villain, Gru finding his brother, the minions leaving, Agnes looking for a unicorn, all this stuff happening and all of it is funny but none of it really connects in any meaningful way.

You can put it on, have some laughs, and be entertained, but I don't see it leaving any real meaningful impact. It's another marshmallow movie. Light, fluffy, and makes you feel good, but lacking in any real substance.

The one thing I will say is this is the first time I'm excited for a Despicable Me sequel, because without getting into sequels, it feels like they're basically setting up for a Spy vs Spy movie, and I am all about that.