A funny, entertaining film...and that is not all

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2011)

Being honest, I did not see this feature in theaters because it looked dumb. A short while back, a relative received a copy of it from Netflex and we watched it. It has been two months since I lost saw this movie and I cannot help but keep thinking about it.
"Despicable Me" is almost purely a funny movie. The humor does not just come from the sight gags (particularly from the light bulb shaped minions); it also comes from the ridiculousness of the plot itself. Going even further, the characters have a retro appearance that take me back to days of Pixar's release of The "Incredibles." The main character has a bulky figure, but thin legs. The antagonist looks like a nerd from the show "The Big Bang Theory." The mad scientist looks like an older Chris Lloyd from "Back to the Future". You get where I am going with this—blatant caricatures. The film even incorporates violence to the point that it is classic slapstick.
But what really make this animated feature so good are the story and the emotions it brings to the table. Without giving any of it way, the movie brings up the question: Can a criminal mastermind develop love for orphaned children? There is such strong development and emotions in the characters that they almost brought me to tears. What I am trying to say is, I really care for characters. When I see them happy, I feel happy. When I see them sad, I feel sad. When they are danger, I fear for their lives.
This feature really shows that it doesn't take a famous animation studio like Pixar to make a really good animated film. There are two things that bug me about this feature though. For one, the adoption agency is shown in a negative light. This may offend some people, particularly individuals who have been adopted. Second, some of the humor is a bit inappropriate and crude for an animated feature. The Shrek films incorporate fart jokes, no biggie, but "Despicable Me" includes some innuendos and even a scene where characters scan their butts for amusement—this is unnecessary for a family-oriented animated film. This is a good film, but some of the quirks I listed above drag its score down some. It is obvious that Toy Story 3 would win for Best Animated Feature and it did (rightfully so). However, this should have received an Oscar nomination.
My rating: *** out of ****