Despicable Me (2010) User Reviews (436)

One of the Sweetest Villains Ever

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 11 December 2010]

When one pyramid of Egypt is stolen, the despicable suburban villain Gru feels frustrated since he considers himself the greatest criminal mind ever. However he plans to steal the moon, in the greatest heist of history, with the support of the evil Dr. Nefario and his army of minions. Gru intends to hire a loan in the Bank of Evil (former Lehman Brothers) to build a rocket and steal the shrink weapon to reduce the size of the moon. But the banker Mr. Perkins intends to invest in the young Vector, who actually had stolen the pyramid. When Gru robs the shrink weapon, Vector steals it from him and kept the weapon in his impenetrable fortress that is protected by state of art security system. Gru sees that the orphans Margo, Edith and Agnes from Miss Hattie's Home for Girls have full access to Vector's house to sell cookies. Gru plots a scheme, adopting the three girls to use them to recover the shrink weapon from Vector. But the three little girls change the behavior of Gru and his minions.

"Despicable Me" is a sort of contemporary version of the Charles Dickens' classic novel "A Christmas Carol" and a highly entertaining animation with one of the sweetest villain ever, three adorable little girls and a group of adorable minions. The story is not corny but human, and the jokes with Bill Gates that is the source of inspiration of the nerd Vector and with the investment banking Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. that declared bankruptcy in 2008 and affected the lives of small private investors are witty. In the end, Gru is not the criminal mastermind that he supposed to be. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Meu Malvado Favorito" ("My Favorite Meanie")

Cute and wonderfully inventive

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 5 March 2011]

I heard that this movie was very good, and after seeing seeing it myself, I have to say I heartily concur. While not my favourite film of the year, and the film never tries to be that, Despicable Me is cute and wonderfully inventive. While it could have been a little longer, what made Despicable Me work was a number of things. The animation for starters is stunning, I liked the colours and character designs but it was the backgrounds and retro-futurist design that blew me away, while the gadgetry is ingenious.

The music fits very well with the film and is memorable without being overly ambitious or simplistic, the story is ceaselessly inventive and fast paced with a surprisingly clever subplot about the importance of family. The characters also add a lot, Gru is wonderfully zany especially and I found it impossible not to fall in love with his minions, they are so cute. But my favourite assets of Despicable Me are the humour and the voice cast. The writing is just excellent, it was so funny and incredibly smart without feeling too much, while the voice work is exemplary especially from Steve Carell whose brilliant vocals add a lot to the film's success.

Overall, a truly great film with a lot to like. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Despicable See

[dawsonmckay-780-71082 · 8/10 · 2 July 2010]

Since Toy Story 3 is in theatres, it's rather knee-jerk to compare Despicable Me to the animation giant. But you shouldn't. Despicable Me doesn't have the heavy, dark tones of the final Toy Story and, therefore, is probably better suited to smaller children. As with the best family films, though, adults will love this story as much - if not more - than their little ones.

And here's why. It is incredibly rare to see a single dad portrayed in such a positive light. While Gru has an admittedly "bad" vocation, there are unbelievably sweet moments between him and the three children, probably aided by the juxtaposition of tiny girls to a large, "bad" guy.

The nepotistic supporting cast from Saturday Night Live (even Jack McBrayer works for Tina Fey) is fantastic. One pleasant surprise was from Gru's minions: they did not steal the show. Not that they should've- the little yellow guys were funny and entertaining, but one would expect from the previews they would ultimately be the best part of the film... and I'm happy to report that wasn't true.

Despicable Me is LOL funny throughout, warm, goofy, and will not disappoint. I'd say you're a despicable parent if you don't take your kids to see it immediately.

Lots to Love

[meininky · 9/10 · 18 June 2010]

Despicable Me's teasers and trailers seemed to represent a few different movies, and that's reflected by the general segregation of comedy styles that the film begins with. At the film's start, Gru (Steve Carrell) handles the dark comedy, the trio of orphans get the cutesy comedy, and the minions handle the slapstick. As the film progresses, though, these lines begin to blur, building to a strong emotional finale and a satisfyingly complete tale. (This is one of those rare non-Pixar animated films that doesn't seem destined for sequel-dom.)

The tale of rival villains isn't terribly original. Nor is the idea of a villain having his heart melted by adorable children. But the way Despicable Me blends these two ideas is just fantastic. There's humor, action, and heart -- what more could you want from an animated film?

Also notable is the way the star-studded voice cast handles their characters. While there are a ton of big names filling out the roster, most of them use accents which render them familiar but not too much so. It's a different route than many animated films take, and it's refreshing. Julie Andrews and Steve Carrell especially do well at straddling the line between their trademark voices and their characters' accents. The voice that steals the movie, however, is the adorable Elsie Fisher as Agnes. Almost every line gets either a laugh or an "Aw..." (On a related note, I love that the orphan girls are named Edith, Margo, and Agnes. I love old names for young people.)

The plot has enough twists and turns to keep things interesting, and the antics of the minions provide a nice side of fun to the proceedings. Also, their reaching contest during the credits is a fun use of 3-D that had the kids in the theater reaching for the screen.

Last year was a banner year for animation, and this year seems to be following suit. How to Train Your Dragon amazed, Toy Story 3 is one of the best animated films of all time, and Despicable Me impresses. A very pleasant surprise.

A LAUGH RIOT! ( Will watch it again)

[viki_smarty · 10/10 · 10 July 2010]

Despicable me is Simply Hilarious. This Movie is not just for kids, Adults are going to enjoy it even more. The youngest girl in it is sooooooo cute. Also the Small yellow minions simply adorable and so funny. The entire hall was laughing through out the movie.

The plot is very interesting to keep you engrossed throughout the movie.It is not a very original plot but has the very humorous dialogs and acts.

Steve Carell's is SIMPLY amazing, he is funny in a very different way...he is the king of the awkward embarrassing insulting type of comedy. You can't help but remember Steve carell's during some of the dialog deliveries.

One of the funniest animation movie. Definitely Worth Watching twice.

great movie for the whole family to enjoy

[0U · 21 February 2020]

I love this movie! It was so adorable, so charming & the writing was absolutely terrific! I love the animation & the characters (including the minions) were all fantastic! A MUST WATCH!

Very cute and adorable animated film.

[dvc5159 · 6/10 · 9 July 2010]

As a reviewer mentioned, this year is set to be a great year of animated films, much like the previous two years. This is proved with Pixar's unmatched (touching wood) winning streak and Dreamworks' surprise turn "How To Train Your Dragon", which proceeds to continue the ever- increasing "golden years" of computer-animated films. Universal's "Despicable Me" is yet another gem in an already quite-heavy bag of diamonds.

With nice direction, the filmmakers were able to combine two quite unoriginal plots into one with ease and without force, and they managed to add wit, charm and smart humor to it as well. Not to mention heart. I have never heard of the filmmakers before, but this is a heck of a debut from two first-time animated film directors. The humor is also not too over the top, yet utterly hilarious and ingenious when they pop up. Most of the jokes had the entire audience rolling in the aisles. The three girls end up being adorable and lovable characters, as per the main character/protagonist/villain, whom you can't help but cheer on and care for, no matter what he does. Steve Carell is spot-on as Gru and he makes the role funnier than it should be, I mean his voice and humorous style is there behind the funny accent. And what Gru plots and does is beyond ridiculous and far too funny to be deemed "serious" by any cynic. Some hilarious supporting characters round out the primary cast, most notably Gru's assistant Dr. Nefarious played by Russell Brand, and I could not believe Julie Andrews was Gru's mother, I hardly recognized her voice at all! Jason Segel was hilarious as Gru's vain nemesis Vector. And let's not forget the utterly adorable and hilarious minions and their wacky antics.

Technical wise, the animation is gorgeous, bright and nicely rendered with a deft touch of simplicity to it, causing it to be not too overly glossy and polished. This makes the animation look less artificial and more fluid, and this especially shows when it comes to the practical jokes. The music score is just wonderful and suits the moods of the film as they come along. The 3D is great and used quite a number of times in the movie during many effect-driven scenes, which is very impressive considering the poor up-conversion to 3D of MANY movies of late.

Overall, this animated film is a great fun time for the kids and family to see, and even some teens will get many laughs out of it as well. This is a very adorable film, full of charm and heart, and with a funny and lighthearted storyline, and may the powers that be reward this at the box office, if the mediocre "Eclipse" isn't taking all of its viewers already. Looks like Universal's animation days are returning.

Entertainment value: 10/10

Overall: 7.5/10

A modern classic

[HotToastyRag · 9/10 · 5 June 2022]

I don't know how I would have reacted to Despicable Me if I'd seen it when I was a child, but as an adult, I found it hilarious. Hopefully the kids in the audience just adore the gibberish spoken by the little yellow minions and don't pay attention to the "mean humor" that is so popular in modern culture. Yes, it is a caricature of "root for the villain" - the lead character is literally a villain who enjoys committing world-scale crimes - but let's hope not too many people take to heart the jokes that involve popping someone's balloon and ruining an ice cream cone.

For grown-ups, it's a perfect comedy. We're old enough not to make Gru a role model, so we can laugh harmlessly at his bad behavior. The three kids he adopts are sweet even when they're snotty, and the rival villain is too idiotic for words. The silly, simple humor is guaranteed to put a smile on your face no matter how bad a day you've had - which is why it's perfect for exhausted parents to watch with their children. Endlessly quotable, this sweet movie is practically a modern classic.

The minions make all the difference

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 22 September 2013]

Gru (Steve Carell) is a horrible villain. Horrible as in he's not that good at it. He's petty. And when he is overtaken by another villain, he finds that he's not up to taking on Vector (Jason Segel). When he couldn't break into Vector's home, he notice 3 orphans selling cookies got in. So what's a respectable villain's suppose to do? Adopt them of course as part of an evil plan.

Gru is a weird character to like, and it's not that much fun to watch at first. His minions help a lot. Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) is also good. But it's the 3 orphans causing all kinds of problem that makes it all alright. It's pretty good animation work. And there's a good story of how a bad guy learn to love. It has its funny moments and it has the minions.

Despite being rather predictable, I had a great time watching this film.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 30 November 2010]

I should note that I did NOT see this film in 3-D but at a non-3-D equipped theater. I am not sure that this impacted my viewing experience very much as most 3-D films I have seen really didn't benefit much from this technology--the most notable exception being "How To Train Your Dragon"--a film that fully utilized 3-D and was amazing to see in all its glory.

I should also point out that I knew exactly where this film was going long before it got there--and I am sure most adult viewers and kids probably felt the same way. Heck, just by watching the preview for the film a few months back, I knew exactly where the film would go. But despite being a formulaic film where the big curmudgeon has his heart melted by some adorable orphans, I still had a wonderful time watching the movie. Why? Because it did something that many family movies forget--it was fun!! And, on top of that, it was super-cute--but not in a cloying manner. Unless you are Genghis Khan, you WILL find the countless little yellow minions to be completely adorable and funny--a real high point for the film. Heck, a couple months before the film was released, I was at Universal Studios in Florida and just HAD to have my picture taken with one of these characters as it roamed the park--it was just so freaking cute! And, I even liked the adorable little orphans--something I usually hate in films. They had a good balance between cute, sassy and endearing.

Overall, this is a wonderful 3-D movie because parents can enjoy it. I loved the characters and thought the French animators did a terrific job--with artistry that stacks up very well against the older and more established CGI studios, Pixar and Dreamworks. A pleasant treat that won't change your life...but who cares if it's so entertaining?!

By the way, the plot for this film sure looks a lot like "Megamind" that was released just a few weeks later. I have yet to see "Megamind" and plan on doing so soon, so I'll update this review to reflect which of the two films I preferred. I just can't imagine how "Megamind" could be that much better!

Despicable Me

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 18 October 2010]

The 3D concept was still making big business at the box office, and Pixar had the stronghold on the computer animated movie market, so Universal hyped up this movie for a while. Basically the real Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt has been stolen, and there is news coverage to find the great master criminal who did it. In a regular suburban neighbourhood of white picket fences and roses is a single black house surrounded by dead grass, it belongs to wannabe master criminal Gru (Steve Carell). Hidden beneath the house is the large secret hideout where Gru, with his hundreds of short yellow pill-shaped characters known as the Minions, plans his next big scheme. To become the greatest master criminal of all, Gru has a master plan to puzzle the whole world, he plans to steal a shrinking ray, shrink the moon, and steal it from the sky. He does try to steal the shrinking ray, but the criminal responsible for stealing the famous pyramid, Victor, aka Vector (Knocked Up's Jason Segel) takes it from him. With the high security stopping Gru taking the shrinking ray back, he has an idea to get in, by adopting three orphan children, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher). He spots them selling their sweets, biscuits and cakes to Vector without any problems, and he wants to use this to his advantage to get into the Vector compound. It takes Gru a while to get anything done to get the plan on the road, as the three orphans are very needy and annoying, this is frustrating both him and his sidekick Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand). As time goes by and he does spend more time with the children, Gru finds himself becoming very fond of them and almost forgetting the plan completely. Gru does manage to get the children into Vector's house, and with the help of some cookie robots and some of the Minions, he does get the shrinking ray, but he doesn't convince the bank of evil manager about his plan. Gru gets the funding instead from all the Minions, and it finally comes to the night where the moon is in the best position to shrink and steal it. However, it is on the same night as the three girls dance recital, and after the moon plan does succeed and the tides go out of control Gru finds out that Vector has taken the children. In the end, Vector is defeated when the moon grows back to its normal size and he stuck on it back in space, and Gru has completely changed his opinion of the children, becoming surprisingly nice. Also starring Dame Julie Andrews as Gru's Mom, Will Arnett as Mr. Perkins, Danny McBride as Fred McDade; Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud, Jemaine Clement as the Minions and The Hangover's Ken Jeong as Talk Show Host. Carell with his mixed accent makes Gru a great anti-villain that you can both like and dislike, and the Tic Tac looking Minions all bring out their lovable individual personalities very well. It is a simple story using a James Bond style villain and slowly turning him against type, the animation is as good as a Pixar picture, the gadgetry is both cool and funny, and the visual jokes make for fun viewing, so it is a good family comedy. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Animated Feature Film, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film. Very good!

Despicable... Au contraire!

[berrorg · 10/10 · 17 June 2010]

First of all, I am real, not one of those big studios planted minions that come to IMDb to talk wonders about their new releases. You can check my history to prove that.

Second of all, to make your time worth, let me tell you what kind of movies I like and/or dislike (you know, to see if my taste is compatible with yours).

Taking into account only what would be considered "family friendly movies", Pixar cannot be topped. From Pixar I believe that "The Incredibles" is its under appreciated best product, although I have a soft spot for "Finding Nemo" and "Up" (hey, I agree, "Toy Story" and "Monsters Inc." are awesome!). Their worst effort is without a doubt "Cars" (I almost don't even like it), but even that is above a lot of other crap from other studios.

I like the first "Shrek", "Kung-Fu Panda"; found "9" and "Coraline" a little bit boring (but interesting, both!), and totally dislike "Shark Tales", "Planet 51", "Space Monkeys", "Surf's Up", the first "Madagascar" (except for the penguins and the king lemur, lol).

In a broader sense, my all time favourite animated movie (although not CGI) is "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

Enough of that! With that very well established, let me give you my opinion of this movie.

It is amazing! It is charming without being corny; hilarious without resorting to stupid pop-culture references; exciting without being overly loud.. and the best thing: it plays like a fable.

It is absurd! ... but in a good way. The whole plan is to steal the moon, for crying out loud! How ridiculous could that be? And yet, we are led to root for the evil genius to be able to do just that. The whole thing is so tongue in cheek that you will pee in your pants laughing at the effects of having no moon for a few minutes (it is a quick flash of things, for they are so funny).

The movie is incredibly intelligent. The jokes are dead on and VERY imaginative (for example - and this is not a spoiler - pay attention to how they manage to produce light when Dr. Gru and two of his minions are in a ventilation duct at Vector's fortress - just delightful).

You will fall in love with his minions, and if you have a soft heart, with the three orphan girls.

OH, I almost forgot!! The 3D... this is the best usage of 3D I've seen (excepting "Avatar", of course) in a movie. There is a roller coaster ride scene that will literally "tickle your tummy" (like my kids said). For the first three seconds it easily compares to the effects found in "The Simpsons Ride" at Universal Studios.

The action sequences are thrillingly enhanced by the right amount of 3D, and make sure you STAY while the credits roll on. There are some OBVIOUS usage of 3D on those scenes with very funny results. Actually, here's a hint: sit down and enjoy these scenes while the people in the rows in front of you try to exit the theatre; the point of reference they offer will enhance the 3D in such a cool way that it will seem that they will bump into the staircase and the minions protruding from the screen (I suppose that was the intention of these bonus scenes, and boy they nailed it!) All in all, do yourself a favour and go WATCH it... I am sure I will do it again!

Cheers!

P.S. Be sure to learn a little, tiny bit of Spanish so you can "get" one of the jokes... my family was the only one laughing like crazies during that scene.. cheers again!

Cute, charming and touching without being too cheesy

[KineticSeoul · 7/10 · 31 January 2011]

This is a CGI movie for kids and adults, where the plot is mainly from a villain's point of view. Gru(Gru) who is the bad guy or as bad as these CGI movies for kids and adults go. The rivalry between the villains is done well and the jokes are clean and yet fun. All the little things that happen in the background is fun to watch as well and just about everything is played out very well. I also enjoyed the mischievous music that is constantly played in this movie. It's also cute, charming and touching at times without being too cheesy, the minions was also one of the best part about this movie.

7.6/10

OK for young children

[newtonpost · 4/10 · 8 August 2010]

Oh Dear! This is fine you children 8 and under. However, for anyone older the plot is highly predictable, the characterisation belaboured and most of the jokes purile in the extreme. Comparisons with similar recent offerings (UP, Toy Story 3, How to Tame your Dragon) are inevitable and DM does not compare well on any measure you care to use. Might be worth buying the DVD to keep young kids occupied for 90 minutes when it's raining, but there are far better animated films out there that will entertain you better and will be worth a second or third showing.

Dadstheman

The most fun computer animated movie of 2010? Maybe so!

[lewiskendell · 8/10 · 27 January 2011]

"Now, the rest of the plan is simple. I fly to the moon. I shrink the moon. I grab the moon. I sit on the toilet."

Any animated movie that was released during 2010 is inevitably going to be compared to Toy Story 3, so let's get that out of the way, first. No, Despicable Me is not "better" than Toy Story 3. On an emotional and story-telling level, it's not nearly as profound or involving. But Despicable Me isn't trying to be profound, it's aiming for amusement and entertainment. And on those two fronts, Dreamworks has a definite success on their hands.

My favorite thing about Despicable Me is how humorous it is. This is seriously the funniest animated movie that I've seen in quite a while. It has the expected amount of jokes that will give kids (and older people, too) the giggles, as well as lots of comedy that only the grown-up crowd will appreciate. It's fun to see what will pop up next (keep your eyes open for a particularly amusing reference to a particularly un-amusing scene in The Godfather).

Despicable Me is also a vivid, bright movie that's pleasing to the eye in all the right ways. The character designs are stylized and fun, the soundtrack is a nice change of pace for this kind of film, and the pacing is excellent, with nary a dull stretch. The voice talent is great, but I will admit that most of them were pretty much unrecognizable. I wouldn't have known that Jason Segel, Kristin Wiig, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, or Will Arnett were even involved, if not for the credits and the fact that I had read about them beforehand. Steve Carell and Jack McBrayer (in a small but hilarious part) are really the only voices that are easily recognizable. That's not a criticism, just an observation. 

So yeah, it's pretty clear that I liked this movie a lot. It reminds me most of Monsters, Inc. (a movie I absolutely love) in the way that it combines sweetness and humor in a manner that's never cloying or annoying. Watch it with your kids, watch it with your friends, watch it with your significant other, or watch it by yourself. You'll laugh, you'll cheer, you'll say "awwww", and you'll fall in love with Agnes, Edith, and Margo even faster than Gru does.

Hilarity and heart are a great mix for this Excellent movie!

[MajorFilmFan · 10/10 · 9 July 2010]

Despicable Me, the new animated from produced by Chris Melandandri, who also produced Ice Age: The Meltdown and Horton Hears A Who, is one of the summer's stand out movies. Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Miranda Cosgrove, and Russell Brand are perfect actors to lead this at times hilarious, at times tear jerking animated tale. Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Danny R. McBride, Julie Andrews and Jermain Clement make for a worthy supporting cast.

Gru (voiced by Carell) is a evil genius who only wants to win the affection of his cold-hearted mother (voiced by Andrews), something he has NEVER had. His only friends are Dr. Nefario, a aging scientist (voiced by Brand), and his army of minions (voiced by directors Peiere Coffin and Chris Reneud, and Jermain Clement), Twinky like creatures with both one and two eyes, it varies.

When a mysterious newcomer named Vector (voiced by Segal) steals the Great Pyrimid of Giza, Gru decides to pull off the greatest heist EVER: stealing the moon! Then, three orphan girls, Margo (voiced by Cosgrove), Edith, and Agnes (both voiced by newcomers who names I don't know.) The three of them don't hit it off with Gru instantly, but they see him as the first real parent they've ever had. Gru slowly begins to warm up to the girls, and they're interactions make for some truly heartfelt, and also hilarious moments. Case in point:

Edith: Are these beds old bombs? Gru: Yes. But, they are very old and highly unlikely to blow up. Try not to toss and turn.

Despicable Me pulls off something almost unheard of: a film that is enjoyable for both parents and children that does NOT involve humor centered around bodily functions, or violence.

Final grade: A Plus infinite number of times!

Not an Animated Feature

[boblipton · 10/10 · 6 July 2010]

DESPICABLE ME is not an animated feature. It is a flat-out feature-length cartoon, a rare bird in the field, and the first really successful one since THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE. If anything, it's better.

Animated features are typically fantasies, taking us to places and stories that cannot be filmed in live action. They can be dramatic, fantastic, inspirational, terrifying, all the range of emotions. Cartoons are different. Cartoons inhabit a universe that is a cross between Krazy Kat and the Keystone Kops. Walk off a cliff and you don't fall until you notice. Fall a thousand yards and hit the ground and you wheeze like an accordion until the next scene, when you're fine. Cartoons are silly.

And this one is very very silly, from Steve Carell's indecisively Eastern European-voiced Grue to Julie's Andrews who, as his mom, sounds like Beaky Buzzard's mother in Bugs Bunny shorts, to the seemingly indistinguishable minions who talk like Chip and Dale on helium -- Grue knows all their names. A modern supervillain has to have people skills.

The gags are all spot on in relevance and impeccably timed. The plot advances at a good clip and even the heartwarming aspects of the plot never descend into mawkishness -- the little girls whom Grue adopts to advance his plan to steal the Moon are endearing but frequently annoying.

I saw the 3-D version and the question arises, should you spend the extra money to see it in 3-D? I don't think so -- but then I am happy looking at stuff in black and white and even silent films. You may get a little more out of the 3-D version, particularly the credit extras. But that's up to you. See it in whatever form you like, but see it.

Oh, those Minions!

[paulclaassen · 7/10 · 20 December 2022]

Oh, those adorable Minions who never speak a word anyone can understand...!

The Pyramid of Giza has been stolen! Yup, apparently in this universe of super villains, it is possible to steal a pyramid. The real one has been replaced by an inflatable one (and no-one noticed this). Anyway, besides the fact this is as silly as can be, the point they're trying to make, is the fact there are super villains.

Our protagonist villain is Gru, a genius inventor, who has hundreds of little yellow Minions working for him. Gru now wants to outdo the villain who stole the pyramid - by stealing the moon! A shrink ray is capable of shrinking objects (yes, even the moon). But Gru's arch enemy and fellow villain, Vector, also wants the shrink ray, and he, too, wants to steal the moon.

With no means of gaining access to Vector's fort, Gru seizes the moment when he notices three orphan kids selling cookies, being allowed into the fort. So he decides to adopt the girls. Little did this supper villain realize these three girls would be able to steal his heart.

What follows is a heart warning story of love and affection, discovery, and emotion. This is a wonderful story young and old can relate to. The animation is great, and those minions will have you crying with laughter. They are show stealers!! Oh, you gotta love this movie! This was fabulous.

Wild Ride!

[cheryllynecox-1 · 10/10 · 10 July 2010]

If Warner Brothers and Disney Animation Studios had ever had a baby they might have named it Illumination. The machine behind "Despicable Me" takes the wacky bits from old school cartoons and applies 21st century animation technology to produce a hip and well articulated masterpiece. From start to finish, the film was absolutely captivating and sophisticated with an engaging narrative and imaginative characters.

All of the characters were well-voiced, but I found Jason Segal's "Victor/Vector" villain particularly inspired. The little yella fellas were uniformly charming and I expect they'll probably have their own aisle in toy stores very soon. Carell's crazy villainy was perfectly tuned, as was Julie Andrews whose new voice adds a delightful note as the Despicable mother. The juvenile vocals brought both sass and sweetness to the story, and Kristen Whiig was smarmy in a distinctly southern way.

The humor is rich, with winks at classic cinema like "Taxi Driver", "Apollo XIII", and others. The Bank of Evil is staffed by former Lehman brothers execs, and recurring motifs and jokes create a comic continuity that is sustained through the credits. "Dispicable Me" was my second choice, but now I'm very happy was running a little late this evening.

Call Me a Cynic, But I Liked It!

[colinrgeorge · 7/10 · 13 July 2010]

Never one to pass up a good cinematic curmudgeon, maybe I was predisposed to enjoy Universal's "Despicable Me." I mean, when it comes to off-brand animated entertainment, ass-kicking Pandas and pet Dragons only take me so far—It wasn't until Russian supervillian Gru (Steve Carell) put his adopted children to bed in the hollowed-out casings of "probably" inactive bombshells that I finally felt like the target audience.

Ever since animation studios began better emulating Pixar's secret sauce, they've met with varying degrees of success in combining raw, gooey emotion with their signature lighthearted recipes. "Despicable Me" grapples with it, and though it may be one of the most consistent examples yet, it's still about as nuanced a dish as macaroni and cheese — which, fortunately for me, I've never outgrown.

However, of the two conflicting senses of humor at play, there is one I absolutely have outgrown. Rarely has a family film so distinctly set aside its kids' humor from its more mature fare; In "Despicable Me," it's a difference personified. Gru's subterranean lair is crawling with his "minions," little, yellow jellybean-like creatures who make butt jokes and slap each other around. They're cute purely for the sake of being cute (in effect, a sort of artificial cuteness) and anytime they're on screen, the comparable intellect of the rest of the film is suffocated by indecipherable high-pitched chatter and broad gags that make vaudeville look like the Divine Comedy.

The good news is that the minions are never on screen for particularly long, and there are a few laughs to be had at their expense when they become the unfortunate casualties of Gru's experiments. Conversely, most of film's jokes have an avant-garde sensibility that jived better with me; Gru must acquire a loan from the "Bank of Evil" in order to fund his diabolical scheme to shrink and steal the moon. Coupled with a "Spy vs. Spy"-esquire kinetic goofiness, it still averages out to be a fairly funny film.

No surprise, a lot of upper-echelon voice talent is involved, and I remember being impressed months ago at the wall of names that played after the teaser-trailer. Admittedly, I haven't been the biggest fan of Carell's work since he left "The Daily Show" back in 2005, but he doesn't distract as Gru. He plays well off of a cast eerily similar to that of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall:" Jason Segel as his nemesis, Vector (who is, interestingly, another supervillian —"Despicable Me" doesn't have a hero); Russell Brand as an elderly inventor by the name of Dr. Nefario; Kristin Wiig as the proprietor of the orphanage from which Gru adopts three young girls in a ploy to infiltrate Vector's fortress.

But perhaps most interestingly, "Despicable Me" has some of the most easily-missed cameos in the history of animation. Danny McBride plays Gru's neighbor with a line and a half of dialogue, and Jemaine Clement from HBO's "Flight of the Conchords" (apparently) voices one of the minions. Other than stacking the deck as an advertising vehicle, it seems pointless to pay such funny people for such inconsequential roles.

But I think their presence signifies, if nothing else, that "Despicable Me" is a project worth being attached to. It may fall back on certain cyclical annoying tendencies, catering occasionally to lowest-common-denominator comedy (the avoidance of which even the best emulation of Pixar hasn't managed), but the world of the film is comically rich, and no amount of disposable, annoying minions can wreck that — though not from lack of trying. The heart of the story, Gru coming to begrudgingly love his adopted daughters, may not win any prizes for revolutionary storytelling, but it's well executed and 'cute' in a legitimate way.

As something of an amateur curmudgeon myself, please disregard my smile.

Despicable in name only

[Simon_Says_Movies · 8/10 · 9 July 2010]

What a year it has been for animated films. So far in 2010 we have had three great films from three rival studios. DreamWorks kicked things off with the surprise sleeper hit How to Train Your Dragon and animation juggernaut Pixar countered with the hotly anticipated Toy Story 3. Now Universal's Illumination Entertainment has released the audaciously titled Despicable Me and while it may be the "worst" of the trio, it is certainly the most purely entertaining.

The strengths of Despicable Me lie within veins commonly found in animated features, but his entry simply utilizes them extremely effectively. Along with jumping on the 3-D bandwagon (my theatre was screening it in normal dimensions) Despicable Me boasts an impressive voice cast, a ploy first used with Robin Williams way back in the days of traditional days of animation with Aladdin, superbly executed slapstick and what I will call the sidekick factor. Whether cute or wisecracking, you would be hard-pressed to find a film in this medium that does not employ this tactic. Even so called "art-house" animated pictures like WALL-E follow the trend (in fact, that particular film contains two such supporting characters) and Despicable Me ups the ante and adopts thousands.

The villainous central character of Gru (voiced my Steve Carell) operates his evil lair with the aid of a multitude of adorable little yellow workers, and along with their "awwwee" factor, are the subject of a healthy portion of the aforementioned slapstick. Nestled in between the easy laughs however is ample heart and if you are prone to do so, you may very well shed a tear or two. This warmth is generated by three orphan girls, Margo, Edith and the doe-eyed Agnes, but perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.

All Gru has ever wanted is to be accepted, and what better way to achieve that goal than by resorting to supervillainy. After a fresh- faced rival villain Vector (Jason Segel) outdoes Gru by stealing a pyramid from Egypt, he devises a plan to obtain a shrink-ray from a government testing facility and use that technology to shrink, and then steal the moon. Things do not go according to plan after Vector steals the shrink-ray right out of Gru's spindly clutches. What's a supervillain to do? Devise another plan of course, this time using the three aforementioned orphans to infiltrate Vector's lair by selling cookies. It's all very complicated in writing but works very well on screen.

Steve Carell does an admirable job in the lead voice role, and his Russian accent helps us to forget it is an A-list star nestled behind the animation. Russell Brand gives an unrecognizable performance as Dr. Nefario, the brains behind Gru's operation, and Kristen Wiig is hilarious as the head of the orphanage. The most disappointing is certainly the great Jason Segel whose underwritten character fails him as does his voice. Half of the allure of Segel is his physical presence and that is neutered in a voice-only role. While the physical humour will no doubt please the kids, there is perhaps even more for adults and if a movie is able to make me double over in the isle, then it must be doing something right. With Shrek Forever After being the one misstep for this medium, I look enthusiastically forward to the remainder of the year. What I know for certain is I (and the audience I joined) had an absolute blast with this flick, that is despicable in name only.

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Fantastic animated movie for the entire family.

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 27 November 2010]

Another awesome animated movie to hit us movie-lovers in 2010.

"Despicable Me" is a really nice movie, both in story and appearance. The movie is very colorful and superbly animated. There are so many little details going on in every scene, and it is just wonderful. I think it is great how far animation movies have reached by now. And there is somehow somewhat of a Tim Burton-feel to the way "Despicable Me" looks like, I mean the way the characters look and such. Not that the style here is dark or semi-Gothic, but they bear some resemblance.

The story of "Despicable Me" is a warm story, of how the villain Gru's life gets turned upside down when he adopts Margo, Edith and Agnes for a scheme, but ends up thawing up his frozen heart. That is enough said about the movie plot, and it is all that need to be said actually. The story is fast paced and takes you on a roller-coaster of fun and excitement - and superb animation, of course. It is the type of story that will warm your heart and sink right in, probably one that you will have with you for quite some time actually.

The impressive cast does a very, very good performance in their voice acting, and all characters have a lot of personality and quirky traits that you just want to see more and more of them. From the villainous Gru to the small yellow minions, you just simply love them all.

I hadn't thought "Despicable Me" would turn out as cool as it was, so I was thoroughly surprised when I watched it. If you haven't already seen this phenomenal animated movie, get your butt in gear and do so. It is definitely one of the better animated movies of 2010. Universal Pictures actually nailed it right on the head with "Despicable Me". Thumbs up, way up!

"Despicable Me" can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. And it is a movie that should be on every movie collector's shelves.

Pretty Weak

[jgeorge4 · 5/10 · 18 July 2010]

The problem with animated family fare is the bar is set very high by cable TV. There is a ton of great humorous animated shows out there--Penguins of Madagascar, Phineas and Ferb, Fairly Odd Parents, Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, SpongeBob...just to name a few. Additionally, Pixar can do no wrong. So when Hollywood invites America's families to drop $40 at the multiplex to watch a cartoon, they'd better bring it strong, and in my opinion, Despicable Me didn't deliver. Yes, it was mildly entertaining and the audience seemed to enjoy it, but overall it just kind of bored me. Like so many movies nowadays, it seems like we've already seen every funny bit in the previews. What bothered me the most however is absolutely EVERYTHING in this movie seems to be derived from something else or is a cheap imitation. Dr Gru talks like the kid from Dexters Lab and looks like Monty Burns. His nemesis looks like Dexter's nemesis Mandark. The minions all sound like Wall-E. So bottom line, you and your family won't storm out of the theater and demand your money back, but you would probably find more innovative animated humor at home on your TV.

This is a great movie!

[sophie-44498 · 10/10 · 20 November 2021]

The main character in this film is Gru - he is a villain and leader of the Minions. His mission is to steel the moon with the help of the Minions, but Vector (Gru's arch enemy) takes Gru's shrink ray so Gru can't steel it. Gru adopts three children who annoy him.

I really like this film, especially the bit where Vector gets stuck on the moon because it was funny. If you want a laugh, I recommend you watch Despicable Me!

Review by Dzozefs, Latvia.

Fantastic

[rudicantfail · 10/10 · 26 December 2021]

This is one of the very greatest of modern animation, real fun to watch for any age group. We have watched this many times now, and never get tired of it, and there always seems to be something in the movie that we never spotted before. Great for family viewing, or just a fun afternoon in. It contains some "life lessons", but it is not in your face stuff, just a mild nudge to be nice to everyone.