Funny and cute but needless to say it's no Pixar

Rating: Null/10 (13 March 2011)

In an attempt to pull off a job that gets him noticed in the world of criminal villains, Gru comes up against plucky young rival "Vector", who is very well equipped to say the least. In trying to steal a device from Vector, Gru adopts three young girls so that he can get robot cookies into Vector's lair. However, as successful as this is, he is still now legally parent to three girls – made all the more challenging by the fact that they are starting to grow on him, even if it is just a little bit.
Years ago, I started writing down my thoughts on films in an attempt to try and put more thought into what I liked or didn't like about them; too often I would come out of the cinema and be asked what I thought only for me to say "yeah, it was OK I guess" and nothing more. So mostly now I try to have more to say than just that. Of course sometimes it is hard because the truth is that some films are just "OK I guess". Despicable Me is another of the animated films that Pixar have helped to create by virtue of their success and it is one such film because it will not stand for the ages and it isn't as strong as Pixar can do (the most obvious comparison is the much better The Incredibles) but it is still a perfectly fine little film that amused and pleased me while I watched it despite me being unlikely to ever have to watch it again.
The story is a simple enough one in which a villain finds a heart through three small children, it was always going to happen but I guess this is part of watching the film. Fortunately within this plot there is plenty that is funny, cute or cute and funny. Although it feels a little like ideas from other places, the project is still quite clever with good comic timing and imaginative touches that generally made me laugh. Plus I am a sucker for the cute – the little yellow creatures were a hoot and the three children were a constant delight to me with "It's so fluffy" being my favourite line of the film by about a million miles. This charm carried it for me because otherwise it isn't quite as smart or as cleverly funny as I would have liked – the adult jokes in particular tended to feel more "inserted" than being part of the film in the way Pixar (sorry for mentioning them again) do so effortlessly.
Carell's voice work is pretty good. At first I thought it was a shame he is sort of hidden behind that accent but actually he makes it work well. Those doing the kids voices also work very well – getting the levels right to be cute and funny – even those that dislike children will be won over by these three (which I guess is key to the story and the film when you think about it!). I didn't think Brand was well cast – his accent stands out too much and his character and his voice didn't match up for me in the way it did for others. The supporting voices have some good names but none of them really stood out or ever threatened to distract from Carell in the lead.
As an adult, Despicable Me is "pretty good". It isn't brilliant and it tended to remind me of other films and other ideas but it has enough laughs, enough cute and enough charm to easily entertain. Children will love it and, while not Pixar (sorry!) adults will find themselves quite charmed by it as well.