Review of Despicable Me 3 (2017) by Anzaan A — 19 Nov 2017

As far as disposable sequels to kids films, Despicable Me 3 is pretty much on par with Cars 3 (2017). It's not a particularly memorable film nor can it really hold its own against something like The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) but at least it's not unpleasant. In-fact in may ways Despicable Me 3 is better than the original in that it improves its look-and-feel and provides a decent foil for once in the form of Trey Parker's Balthazar Bratt. Of course it's to the detriment of neutering the refreshing mean-spirited-ness of the original, but hey, at least you still got those Minions am I right? Despicable Me 3 catches Gru (Carell) and newly minted wife Lucy (Wiig) trying and failing to secure the world's largest diamond from the hands of Bratt our flamboyant 80's themed villain. Fired by the new head of the Anti-Villain League (Slate), Gru and Lucy discover he has a twin brother named Dru (also Carell) whom their parents separated at birth. With nothing on their plate, Gru, Lucy and the girls (Cosgrove, Gaier and Scharrel), travel to the Mediterranean coasts of Freedonia to meet Dru.

When the family lands in Freedonia, the movie descends into a series of fun but thematically incongruous vignettes. Gru bonds with his brother over Dru's desire to become a villain, Lucy fails, succeeds and fails again to become a mother figure to the three girls, Agnes, the youngest of the three tries to capture a unicorn, Balthazar Bratt sees his plans for world domination come to near-fruition and the Minions...well let's just say they have their own thing going as well.

About half of all this busy, busy, business works at least as far as furthering the plot. The fact that none of the film's insanity really coalesces into a compelling whole, only makes the film feel more like a mediocre sitcom episode than an actual movie. Yet as far as inspired moments of slapstick, Despicable Me 3 supplies a little bit more than is to be expected. One highlight involves Gru and Dru driving around the Freedonian countryside in a golden-plated mean machine while police follow while riding literal pigs. Parents will find these comedic bits more amusing than funny but the kids, the kids will be rolling up and down the aisles.

And isn't that what this movie is ultimately about? To provide entertainment to children? While I don't necessarily condone families watching kid's films for their own sake (and this one in particular is all over the map as far as messaging), there's not really all that much to object about here. Despicable Me 3 is at its core a thoughtless but entertaining jumble of sights, sounds and goofiness. Thankfully unlike your racist aunt, Illumination Entertainment has not used the Minions for nefarious purposes...at least not yet.nce again, Steve Carell proves he's better at doing CGI voice-overs than he is at live-action comedy.

The movie begins with a retrospective news story about Balthazar Bratt; an ex-child TV star gone bad (Holy Danny Partridge, Batman!). Followed by the super-villainous, middle-aged version going after the world's biggest diamond in the modern day. When Gru and Lucy fail to capture him, however, it turns out that this is the _third_ such disastrous confrontation.

Result; termination of employment with extreme (though non-lethal) prejudice.

The rest of the film is like a cross between Disney's THE INCREDIBLES and the Ah-nuld/Devito comedy TWINS. Carell does an admittedly good job making Drew appear to be a more naive/less competent version of Old Gru (the villainous one from the first film) simply by using a shriller voice combined with wavy-blond CGI hair! So, who better to help him overcome that handicap than his long-lost brother who once stole the Moon, itself?

Speaking of shrill voices; once again, the Minions are voiced--at higher RPM's--by French executive producer Pierre Coffin. Although, the sub-plot about their going to prison for loitering and trespassing wasn't as hilarious as it could have been, I still got a kick out of the French version of that old Gilbert and Sullivan classic, "The Modern Major General.".

I also loved Julie Andrews' cameo "appearance" as the voice of Gru's mother (now a cougar-ish dowager). Priceless!

But, of course, what really stole the show (as in the first two films) was the lovability of Little Agnes. This time, on the hunt for a "really live unicorn.".

Add all of the above--plus some STAR WARS and Marx Brothers references-- to a toe-tapping, finger-snapping, head-bobbing sound track from the Eighties (back when MTV actually lived up to the name "Music Television") and you've got another winner from Sony/Illumination.

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