Uni-Corny

Rating: 6/10 (26 July 2010)

Greetings again from the darkness. Can't imagine there ever will be, but if there were to be a court trial against Pixar claiming unfair world animation domination, "Despicable Me" would surely be logged as Evidence A. Having the unfortunate luck of being released in the same year as Pixar's masterpiece "Toy Story 3", this is a fine children's film, but just no match.
I am happy to report that the kids in the theatre seemed to respond very well to this one ... especially the Minions. If you have been to a movie in the past year, you have probably been exposed to the Minions - a group of cute, yellow tennis ball-looking creatures with either one or two eyes, a unique squeaking language and an infectious giggle/laugh. I found them to be the highlight of the movie as well.
Basic story has Gru (Steve Carell voice) on a mission to be the world's best villain. He has had some success, but has been a financial disaster. We learn this when he visits the Bank of Evil and they reject his loan for his newest project - stealing the moon! Gru is in competition with a new, younger evil mastermind named Vector (Jason Segel voice). Gru and his inventor Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) are a step behind in technology, but manage to come up with a strategy.
The plan involves cookie-selling orphans who Gru adopts. The story is pretty simple in that he initially plans to use them to trap Vector, but of course, Gru is the one who has his heart stolen by the 3 girls.
It's mostly a cute presentation of a very simple story. Younger kids will get a kick out of it ... and don't seem to be as annoyed at Steve Carell's odd accent as I was. It comes across as a cross between Russian and German, but is easily enough understood.
Don't expect the brilliance of Pixar, but it will entertain the youngsters.