"Despicable" mostly for kids

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2010)

Right in the center of a normal neighborhood, in normal suburbia, sits an odd house with a dried out lawn and large spires. Inside is the secret lair of an ambitious super villain Gru (Steve Carell) and his army of mischievous minions. Gru is wallowing in the shadow of a highly publicized heist completed by a competing super villain named Vector (Jason Segal), so Gru attempts to raise his game. Along the way, Gru crosses paths with three orphaned girls who view him not as a villain, not as cold or uncaring but most importantly, not as a failure. The orphans see Gru as their savior from the orphanage. The three girls (Margo, Edith and Agnes) are the key to Gru's transformation, his master plan and the overall plot of this Universal answer to "Shrek 4″ and "Toy Story 3″ Unfortunately, they are not in the same class. First, there is no reason for this to be in 3-D as it offers nothing to improve the story. The animation as several flaws, dark shadows drag lines and poorly portrays the emotions of its characters compared to Pixar's Woody and pals. Second, this is a child's film first and foremost. There are plenty of laughs, especially from the minions, but your kids are going to enjoy this film much more than you. There are plenty of big names offering their voices: Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario, Julie Andrews as Gru's Mom and Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly) is Margo. It was only Steve Carell's Gru that stood out. Sierra, age 11 said: "It was great to see a story from the villain's point of view." My eight-year-old didn't have a bad thing to say "I liked all of it" and the 5-year-old from our group (not a Jones) loved it so much that she thought she could go see it again. The teenage son was much more critical of the animation and was moderate in his praise. I concur. "Despicable Me" is a good film, not a great one even though it's great to their target audience:10-year-olds and younger. There are a ton of great gags, funny lines, but the story is predictable and derivative lacking the depth and meatiness that audiences have found in the Pixar films. The trailers have ruined a couple of the better moments, which is always frustrating. Most important is that the parenting theme is inferior to great films like "Up" or "Finding Nemo".