Review of Despicable Me 3 (2017) by Lrbohnert — 29 Jun 2017

In just seven years, Illumination Entertainment has turned the grouchy, pointy-nosed villain Gru and his yellow Minions into some of the most recognizable characters in all of pop culture. They’ve starred in multiple movies, they show up in theme parks, you can buy their toys, and so on. The characters are ubiquitous. This feat of marketing is even more fascinating in its success considering that the Despicable Me franchise has yet to produce a truly good film, a streak sadly continued by the latest, Despicable Me 3. Like the first two films, as well as the obnoxious Minions spin-off film from 2015, this new entry is a loud, manic, and frantic extended episode of an overly familiar sitcom.

Steve Carell returns as the voice of Gru, who is unceremoniously fired from the Anti-Villain League for his continued failure in capturing the current title-holder for the most nefarious villain in the world, the 1980s-obsessed Balthazar Bratt (voiced by Trey Parker, a long way from South Park). As Gru figures out his next steps, he learns that he has a long-lost twin brother Dru (also Carell); upon meeting him, Gru must handle his jealousy at Dru’s upbeat personality, his expansive material wealth, and his flowing blonde hair. A few subplots are sprinkled around the A plot, serving as time-wasters: the Minions abandon Gru and get stuck in prison; Gru’s wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) struggles to handle adoptive motherhood with Gru’s kids; and one of those daughters tries to find a real-life unicorn near Dru’s mansion in the country of Freedonia.

Ah yes, Freedonia. You may recognize that name from one of the greatest comedies of all time, Duck Soup, starring the Marx Brothers. It’s one of a number of overly confident references made in this film, by writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio & directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda that exist for no good reason. Take, for instance, the bit where the Minions use an underwater vehicle to nearly run over two clownfish that look suspiciously like Marlin and Nemo from Pixar’s wonderful Finding Nemo. Illumination Entertainment has made a mark in Hollywood very quickly; their films are made cheaply, feature big-name stars, and rake in a lot of dough. (Minions, for all of its lazy humor, made a billion dollars worldwide, which explains why there’s a sequel on the way.) But their hubris in name-checking much, much, much better films only serves as a reminder that you could be watching something else. Despicable Me 3 is as rote and familiar as Illumination’s other work.