Eh... yawn...

Rating: 3/10 (15 August 2010)

This movie had potential to be a great film. The idea of a villain taking care of three little girls, surrounded by bug-eyed minions, while trying to steal the moon, seemed like it would be worth a few laughs. Sadly, it wasn't.
What's with all the praises?
Most of the scenes were only to show of the 3D, so the overall film was bland. Any time the movie came close to conveying real emotion or care for the characters it jumped to a new scene. It was disappointing, I wanted to care about the characters, but couldn't. I was excited when they began to show Gru's back story, but all we got were snippets, nothing substantial that fully explained his relationship with his mother, his notions of parenting, or turn to villainy. His fascination with the moon was barely touched upon, and could have helped support the film. Giving Gru some ray guns, gray clothes, and thick accent does not make him a villain, unless we know why he became a villain in the first place.
The movie was overall bland. The jokes fell flat. Perhaps little children who have yet to develop a sense of humor beyond burps and farts enjoyed it.
The voice work of Steve Carell was great, but the random addition of Julie Andrews, who in my opinion is a great voice talent, was a pointless waste of talent, seeing as how she couldn't have had more than three lines.
I will say one thing positive about this film, I really enjoyed the music.