A hilarious family film

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2014)

The star of the movie is Gru, who has an accent I think might be from East Berlin, but honestly, it's Steve Carell trying to sound sinister. Gru has evil-bad-guy tendencies, but he's on the same scale of evil as the Grinch. His evil exploits consist of stealing the Times Square megatron, and a couple Las Vegas landscape items. The other stars of the film are a trio of orphan girls: Margo, Edith, and Agnes. Apparently, you can show up to an orphanage in a doctor's lab coat, have your minions make up ridiculous facts, and get three daughters.
The story is pretty simplistic, and as a kid's movie, I wouldn't expect complex subplots. There are bits that are obviously meant to keep the adults engaged, such as the scene where Agnes gives Gru the ticket and he becomes the object of dance-mom-judgement. There are times of absolute absurdity (boogie robots, etc), and a lot of imagery that relates to children of all ages and genders. The comedy is also a good mix of dark humor from Gru, cute and childish humor from the girls, and slapstick from the minions.
I would recommend this movie to anyone that likes a good laugh, adorable walking Twinkies with eyes, and Julie Andrews playing a no-nonsense granny. However, if men in track suits, a woman that reminded me of Umbridge, and/or evil banks are not in your comfort zone, ignore this review and skip the film.