Despicably good

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2012)

Yet another charming and funny animation based on comic-book-type super-villainy as Mr Bad Guy Groo gets side-tracked in his grand plan to steal the moon by the initially unwelcome intrusion into his life by three little orphan girls with a combined cute factor of about a bazillion. That last detail alone signposts in advance that sentimentality is going to play a major part in the story and sure enough it all ends happily if of course tearfully ever after.
Along the way, we get some terrific animation, the 3D version I watched being particularly impressive, with lots of inventive set-ups, none better than a roller-coaster ride simulation as well as Groo's final spaceship-to-spaceship rescue of his three charges at the end.
The essential aspect of humour doesn't fail either, the three distinct personalities of the orphans (one matronly, one pesky and one cute) offering plenty of scope for laughs, as do Groo's heart-of-stone mother (improbably voiced by Julie Andrews), his nerdy super-villain rival Vector, not forgetting Groo's mute but otherwise multi-faceted lemming-like bots. Less successful though, I thought was the characterisation of Groo's crime partner inventor Dr Nephario, although this may have a lot to do with my ingrained aversion to the non-talent that is Russell Brand.
I also found the soundtrack by Pharrell Williams (who he?) very Michael Jackson-lite, no doubt Justin Beiber's brand of baby-pop will feature in the sequel. No, I'll remember better the genuinely funny moments inserted just for us adults like Groo's bots rallying round with their worldly possessions to fund his master-plan to steal the moon, very "It's A Wonderful Life" where buffs will surely remember James Stewart also trying to lasso the moon for wife Donna Reed, likewise the nameplate for the Bank of Evil (which funds criminal plots), which bears the legend "formerly Lehman Brothers".
In the end though, all you can do is chalk up another plus to the animator whizz-kids who demonstrate yet again their ability to create another hugely entertaining, funny, occasionally witty and yes, family-friendly entertainment.