Despicable Me

Rating: 10/10 (19 January 2011)

It seems to me that with every year we get smarter, funnier animated features. Those just for the kiddos, and those for kids and adults alike. Despicable Me is amusing for all ages. I love a good change of heart plot. In Despicable Me, the hilarious Steve Carell voices Gru. Gru is an evil genius of sorts who is being shown up by someone who keeps getting to all of the good heists before he can.
In an effort to get the spotlight back, Gru goes to the bank to get a loan for his newest project: shrinking and stealing the moon, of course. While at the bank we meet Vector. Vector (Jason Segel) is obnoxious and appears immature and incapable of being a great villain.
After being turned down by the bank, Gru discovers that Vector is miraculously the one behind the latest great heists. In order to infiltrate Vector's lair, Gru seeks out the girls he saw selling cookies at Vector's house. They live in a local orphanage and are adopted by Gru to carry out his master plan.
Margo, Edith, and Agnes (Voiced in order by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and the extra adorable Elsie Fisher) come to live with Gru and you can imagine what happens then. Picture it: three young girls in the house of an evil genius. With weapons, ray guns, potions, and trap doors at every turn there is plenty of mischief for them to get into.
Let's not forget the minions. The minions are many and they are all over the place causing trouble and acting as guinea pigs to Gru and Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) as they build their rocket ship.
Despite his best efforts, Gru starts to become attached to the little girls. Particularly enjoyable is the scene where Gru takes the girls to an amusement park. Agnes, who had a little stuffed unicorn that was disintegrated when the girls arrived at Gru's house, sees another, much bigger stuffed unicorn and shouts "He's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" I hope I'm not ruining anything for anyone, but Gru wins the unicorn for little Agnes.
Adorable, I know.
No kids movie would be complete without some sort of gas-passin' joke. This one comes in the form of a gun that when fired emits a large greenish cloud and makes a farting sound, to which Gru says "I said dart gun, not" well, you get it.
With laughs, warm fuzzies, bad guys, cute kids, and little green minions, Despicable Me gets the recipe for a great animated film just right. Bon Appétit!
(www . mssilverscreen . com)