Rating:  

Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures.

Written By: Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul. Story by Sergio Pablos.

Arriving in a summer which brought the instant animated classic, “Toy Story 3″, Universal Pictures and upstart production house, Illumination Entertainment, deliver a tremendously entertaining “Despicable Me.” I make reference to “Toy Story 3″ simply as a reminder that while Pixar may make the best animated films consistently year in and year out, other animation studios often deliver movies that are quite special and memorable in their own right.

Supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) has long held the standing as the most villainous bad guy in the world. However, a shocking theft of an Egyptian pyramid by a previously unknown villain, Vector (Jason Segel), has left Gru confused and scrambling to come up with the next biggest crime. His plan is a rather simple one; shrink and steal the moon. Simple, right?

Amusingly, Gru must go through the red tape and paperwork and receive approval from the Bank of Supervillains (apparently previously known as Lehman Brothers) to receive the funding necessary to acquire and perfect his shrink ray and develop the technology which would allow him to execute his dastardly plot. Shockingly, someone has stolen his shrink ray and the Bank is hesitant to fund his nefarious plot, impressed by Vector’s grand success. Gru realizes he must think quickly and act before Vector, or anyone else, forces him into a life of irrelevancy…or even worse, domesticity.

Aiding Gru through all of this is the brilliant Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), who, in his advanced years, has lost his acute sense of hearing. His ability to manufacture cutting edge weaponry and gadgets is unparalleled, when he understands the directions properly. Also at Gru’s beck and call are hundreds of little yellow minions, who are as analogous to Gru as the Oompa Loompas were to Willy Wonka. The minions are obviously the movie’s comic relief and while their mere appearance telegraphs jokes and punchlines and sight gags galore, they are nonetheless cute, engaging, and rather memorable.

When Gru learns that Vector is involved in his ongoing misfortune, he targets the involvement of three orphaned girls, who are selling cookies as a fundraiser for the orphanage where they reside. Gru adopts the girls and places them front and center in his plan to bring down Vector, obtain the money needed, and steal the moon. And despite all of his evilness, the girls begin to make an impact on Gru and his dark side and lighter side quickly melt together in a way we may see coming from a million miles away, but Gru never anticipates.

Acknowledging that the film is quite predictable and easy to decipher, it is nonetheless intermittently hilarious and thoroughly entertaining. Carell voices Gru as some sort of Eastern European villain, akin to something you would find in a James Bond film, and his juggling of accent and emotion is quite good. All of the film’s voice work is top notch, especially in the case of an unrecognizable Russell Brand and Miranda Cosgrove’s exuberant and wise reading of Margo, the oldest of the three sisters.

Delivered to cinemas in 3-D, I can finally endorse a film in 2010 released in 3-D. Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures should be commended for creating a film that remembers its audience are wearing those glasses and at times, “Despicable Me” leaps off the screen (make sure to stay through the credits…). The animation is impressively designed and directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud seem to have combed every inch of the storyboards for the smallest details.

There is much to admire in “Despicable Me” and, I acknowledge, much you have seen before. However, something will grab you here. If it is not the three girls or Gru’s rapid, shortsighted leap into parenthood, the action sequences or the witty moments geared for the kids and the adults, then those hundreds of yellow minions will surely do the trick.

A fun and humorous trip to escapism, “Despicable Me” is a film that you will probably like a lot and your kids will most likely love in the theater and later, on DVD, for probably a couple hundred or so repeat viewings.

Should I See It?

YES

For an entertaining family film for the duration of the summer, “Despicable Me” will please adults and children alike.

For those of you looking for a movie providing a reason to put on those now standard issue 3-D glasses, here it is. Stay through the credits to see an example of how the technology can truly work.

The film looks terrific and Illumination Entertainment’s first feature is an impressive debut. There is great detail given to each scene and the film is a joy to watch as well as see.

NO

The plot is rather thin and pretty familiar, packing minimal surprises. This will not be a problem for kids, but for adults – some may find the film boring.

The self-professed supervillain adopting three girls storyline, even in a family-oriented animated film, may make some parents pause as to whether this is an appropriate film for their kids.

Um…it’s not “Toy Story 3″? This is a movie that is hard not to like. You’ve seen better, but you’ve seen a whole lot worse as well.