Despicable Me

Definitely See

[Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig]

RANT: It finally happened. Remember the great little kid I enjoyed going to kids movies with? He was having a bad day and finally cracked. About two-thirds into the film he wanted to go home and let his mother know it. She shushed him as best she could and tried to refocus him to what was happening on screen. It all ended well, though, because when asked if he liked the movie, he beamed and said yeah!

SYNOPSIS: Super villain Gru gets upstaged by a young hip villain, Vector, and resorts to adopting three orphan girls in order to get access to Vector's shrinking ray gun for the crime of the century.

With the wave of 3D movies and 3D animation, I wonder when the wave will come crashing down with audience fatigue. There is the element of the additional cost and the younger age of some of the viewers unwilling to keep the glasses on the entire film. At any rate, 3D or not, this animated film carries itself... to the moon!

Steve Carell lends his vocal talents as Gru, a hungarian accented super villain bent on perpetrating amazing crimes and achieving world domination. As an middle-aged doer of evil, he has the adoration of his begoggled diminutive yellow minions and the loyalty of his weapons designer, Dr. Nefario. What he doesn't have is a serious credit to his name. Sure, he has stolen the Times Square Jumbo-Tron and the Statue of Liberty (from New York, New York in Las Vegas), but younger scoundrels are stealing his limelight (and ability to secure a loan to fund his latest world dominating scheme).

Enter three orphan girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes, trying to stay on their keeper's, Miss Hattie's, good side by selling as many mail order cookies as possible. Since Gru's nemesis, Vector, is smitten with the cookies, Gru finds it necessary to adopt the orphan girls to gain access into Vector's fortress.

As you would suspect, the hard-hearted Gru and the girls are at odds from the beginning. I do not need to tell you how it ends up for them all. But knowing the destination does not stop the enjoyment of the journey. Gru's minions are unintelligible and hilarious. The orphan girls are funny, independent and can melt your heart with a droopy stare. Even Gru's dog(?) offers up some levity.

The action is both ACME and 007. The rivalry between Vector and Gru, and their gadgets is over the top. But at the end of the day, their deep-seated issues ultimately stem from their desire to win the approval of their parents. And, I believe, "Despicable Me" will also win the approval of parents and kids alike.

Worth: Matinee and a DVD

I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!