'Despicable Blockbuster'!

Rating: 6/10 (10 January 2011)

'DESPICABLE ME': Three Stars (Out of Five)
Comedians Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Will Arnett and Kristen Wiig all lend their voices to this popular animated blockbuster. Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud direct the CGI animated film, a first from Universal Pictures and it's Illumination Entertainment division. The script is written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul (the same team behind the 'HORTON HEARS A WHO!' film, also featuring Carell's vocal talents in a leading role) from a story by long time animator and first time writer Sergio Pablos. The film is one of two popular CGI animated features this year revolving around a 'bad guy' who's not so bad at heart and learns to be good through love and appreciation (the other being the DreamWorks Animation blockbuster 'MEGAMIND', which I watched the same day).
The film is set in a fictitious suburban town where evil criminal mastermind Gru (Carell) lives in a black dreary house. Underneath the house is a hidden workshop where dozens of little creatures, his minions, work on new gadgets like freezing and shrinking ray guns. Gru has been a genius since childhood but never been able to impress his overbearing mother (Julie Andrews). So he's turned to a life of crime and all things 'despicable'. When another evil villain known as Vector (unrecognizably voiced by Segel) steals the Egyptian pyramid and therefor tops Gru as the world's number one villain Gru devises a plan to shrink and steal the moon in order to win back his notoriety. After he steals the shrink gun necessary to pull off the heist Vector steals it from him and Gru will stop at nothing to get it back. He devises a plan that involves three orphan children sneaking into the young villains house with robot cookies and adopts the kids from a local orphanage in order to pull it off. While first quickly becoming annoyed and frustrated with the kids he of course learns to love them and this obviously gets in the way of his plans.
The movie has a classic somewhat older style cartoon feel to it and the animation is interesting. While it is extremely silly, cheesy and ridiculous it's also very funny at times. The cast of voices are all excellent and humorous (although Carell obviously borrows a lot from Mike Myers' 'Dr. Evil'). There's definitely nothing new or unique to it and what little emotion there is to it is forced and over done but it's obviously intended for kids, and on that level it succeeds (I watched the movie with two of my nephews and they loved it). A good kids movie should be able to entertain adults as well as kids I always say and this move has enough funny and amusing moments to keep an older crowd interested as well. The film overall is a slightly above average animated comedy.
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