Achieves pleasant balance of slapstick and sentimentality

Rating: 7/10 (1 September 2010)

A splendid family viewing film. The animation is impressive, and utilizes its 3-D format well, but mildly over-indulges the technology in a few spots. The voice talents are all spot on, and the wide variety of colorful characters are skillfully played off one another.
The "Despicable" villain is a woefully inept klutz who uses Oompa-Loompa type sidekicks (toys for sale, anyone?) to pull off weird over-the-top crimes. His rival pulls off the crime of the century, causing him to hatch an evil scheme to regain status among villains. Enter the foils, three cute little orphan girls dreaming of being adopted. The sweet innocents were genuine, and give this story a lot of heart. Soon they are newly adopted daughters and unwitting accomplices in a Trojan Horse scheme.
The girls have a disarming and melting charm with their ingenuous and sincere spirit, a perfect counterpoint to "Despicable.". The bonding of the parties and its awkward but warm start are genuine and touching. The drawings on the wall will tear your heart out when you see them, and involvement with all these characters is for certain.
A surprisingly tender hearted film. Recommended.