Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5
Verdict: Likeable animated sci-fi fairy tale
Having suffered through the gore of Piranha 3D I thought I was immune to anything these new-fangled goggles-required flicks could throw my way. But the rollercoaster ride that features in the middle of this animated flick from the folks behind Ice Age and Horton Hears a Who! had me feeling as green as Shrek. Or in this case as grey as Gru ... like, cool.
Yes, Despicable Me does have a lot of fun with its visual exaggerations, especially the ones inducing vertigo.
And while its story can resemble an offshoot of Pixar's The Incredibles, replacing superheroes who want to have a normal life with a supervillain who acquires one by accident, it's also happy being a cartoon. Its animations can resemble Gary Larson's The Far Side by way of Mad Magazine's Spy vs Spy, complete with a little Dora The Explorer when it comes to three wide-eyed little orphan girls mixed up in the life of the aforementioned Gru (Steve Carell).
He's of indeterminate East European accent. He may be from the same neighbourhood and go to the same tailor and barber as Dr Evil. He lives in a mansion above his secret lair, populated by vast numbers of small, yellow, squeaky and goggled hench-creatures and a resident gadget expert, Dr Nefario (Russell Brand).
Only, his fiendish schemes haven't been paying off, of late. And he has a new rival in evil-geek Vector, who the supervillains' bank ("formerly Lehman Brothers" it says on the sign) is finding a sounder investment. After all, Vector has just pinched one of Egypt's pyramids. So Gru figures he will steal the moon with the help of a shrink ray and hold it for ransom. Only Vector acquires the technology first and Gru's only way into his rival's impregnable fortress to pinch it are the door-to-door cookie-selling efforts of the three orphans he adopts. The question is, how will Gru's new paternal responsibilities affect his work-life balance? Can he still be fiendish and make it in time for the trio's ballet recital? When his heart inevitably melts due to their combined adorability, will it make a mess? And will those little yellow creatures ever make sense?
All, of course, does not go to plan. And along the way we learn the reason for Gru's wickedness is to do with his mother, who, despite having the voice of Julie Andrews, is a mean old bat. But like the rest of the film, she's only so nasty. And this film, closest perhaps to Monsters vs Aliens, would seem perfect pre-teen entertainment for both boys (who will marvel at Gru and Vector's silly high-tech toys) and girls (who will go "awww" a lot at the orphans). Oh, and for their parents, who having survived that 3D rollercoaster ride should never have to fork out for an amusement park ever again, okay?
Voice Cast: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Jemaine Clement, Joaquin Phoenix
Directors: Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
Running time: 95 mins
Rating: PG (low level violence)
- TimeOut
