Wild Ride!

Rating: 10/10 (10 July 2010)

If Warner Brothers and Disney Animation Studios had ever had a baby they might have named it Illumination. The machine behind "Despicable Me" takes the wacky bits from old school cartoons and applies 21st century animation technology to produce a hip and well articulated masterpiece. From start to finish, the film was absolutely captivating and sophisticated with an engaging narrative and imaginative characters.
All of the characters were well-voiced, but I found Jason Segal's "Victor/Vector" villain particularly inspired. The little yella fellas were uniformly charming and I expect they'll probably have their own aisle in toy stores very soon. Carell's crazy villainy was perfectly tuned, as was Julie Andrews whose new voice adds a delightful note as the Despicable mother. The juvenile vocals brought both sass and sweetness to the story, and Kristen Whiig was smarmy in a distinctly southern way.
The humor is rich, with winks at classic cinema like "Taxi Driver", "Apollo XIII", and others. The Bank of Evil is staffed by former Lehman brothers execs, and recurring motifs and jokes create a comic continuity that is sustained through the credits. "Dispicable Me" was my second choice, but now I'm very happy was running a little late this evening.