It's so cute you might die

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2010)

Despicable Me is the latest animated film in what appears to be an endless assault of 3D cinema. Luckily for us this movie actually does a fairly decent job of utilizing the 3D technology in creating a pleasant looking and functional 3D landscape. Here we follow a master villain named Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) who aims to become the worlds most notorious super villain. Along with the help of Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) and a host of little, yellow creatures known as the "minions" (though Gru knows each one by name), Gru finally gets his shot when he attempts to steal the moon. The only problem is he doesn't have the weapon needed or the money. Not to mention he is being out-hustled by Vector (Jason Segel), a young, upstart of a villain with more money and one big heist already under his belt.
In order for his plan to succeed, Gru requires the help of three orphan girls, which he adopts, and misleads them into helping his evil cause. What appears to be a simple plan turns out to be disaster and ultimately leads to Gru connecting with the girls and distracting him from his master plan.
There's a point during this movie where I just gave up analyzing the story and how it makes sense and just sat there and watched, taking each joke one line at a time and then moving on to the next one. It kind of worked. The story and the logic doesn't really matter, like where the minions come from, why Gru became a villain, or why he doesn't try to go after something easier.
The crowd favorite was without a doubt Agnes, the youngest of the orphan girls that Gru adopts. She looks like a bobble head doll with puppy dog eyes and an obsession with unicorns. She is the punchline in just about every scene she is in, but that works. As far as moving the story along, she does nothing to that effect. To be quite honest there really only needs to be one girl, but having three personalities gives us some variety. Even though there could probably be a solution that doesn't involve using the girls, it is necessary for the girls to try and change Gru into a better person.
In regard to the voice acting, this is a pretty solid performance all around. Carell does a pretty decent job while the others almost go out of their way to not sound like their real selves, which is refreshing. Unlike Dreamworks films which is basically just hiring big name stars to talk into a microphone with some feeling, just some. Brand does a nice job as well as Segel, but I was very surprised to see others like Will Arnett, Kristin Wiig, and out of left field...Julie Andrews! All of which did a sufficient job.
After looking past overwhelming cutesy nature of the film, this is actually a pretty well made film. I would absolutely recommend seeing this in 3D. The 3D isn't as fluid as Avatar, but nothing will be for a while (except maybe Toy Story 3, but that's a different story entirely). The characters are so disproportionate in all physical areas, which can be amusing, but after a while you don't even notice. The big winner here is the depth. I feel like every time I talk about 3D movies this is my number one concern, but it helps so much. It makes an average scene look great and a great scene look spectacular. There are examples of both in this film. Some parts had hints of genius, only to be followed by a slap of cuteness that almost ruins the moment. Almost.
This is just a fun film that kids and adults can go see together and not sit in agony. I would fork up the money for the 3D if you can to really give you the full experience (especially during the end credits). I wouldn't go too out of my way to see this one, but I wouldn't avoid it either.