Despicable Me makes a few bold moves but lacks the elements that make the wealth of recent animations excel. It doesn’t have the hilarious gags that fill Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs nor the attractive style and compelling characters found in Fantastic Mr. Fox. The beautiful polish and astounding score from How To Train Your Dragon are missing. The emotion and utter perfection of Toy Story 3 are understandably difficult to achieve, but Despicable Me seems to dip its toes into each of these elements, while never fully delivering on anything.
What results is a muted experience that wades in out of varied levels of mediocrity. If one can get past the painfully slow first act there are a few highlights to be found in Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud’s first foray into feature animation.
Steve Carell is Gru, a evil super villain who isn’t exactly at the top of his field anymore. In his big comeback he attempts to steal the moon. When he is forced to adopt three orphan girls not only do his diabolical plans change, but so do his ways of life.
The film doesn’t kick into gear until the three orphans are adopted by Gru. Their cute banter against the menacing Gru provides the most entertaining moments. For a film structured on gags, there are a few that push it into dark territory. One that involves a child possibly being stabbed to death caught me off guard and delivered the most laughs. It’s unfortunate that the directing duo weren’t able to push the boundaries a little more in this arena. The overabundance of fart and getting-hit-by-objects jokes weigh down what could have been a unique and tenacious adventure.
Aside from the engaging banter, the duo provide a few thrills during a competently executed heist as well as a day to amusement park. Each of these scenes show real promise in an otherwise plain film. After recently seeing the vibrant, ultra-detailed world found in Toy Story 3 the one that makes up Despicable Me comes off lifeless. From the animation to the virtual camera movements to the script there is very little to latch onto and truly enjoy.
Another lacking element of the animation is the 3D. Instead of pulling you into the film like Toy Story 3 or even How To Train Your Dragon, the obtrusive in-your-face nature will have you taking off your glasses and rubbing your eyes. During the credits we are given a little short where the playful 3D works since the story has ended. But for anyone wanting to buy into the characters and emotion during the film you will be consistently distracted.
Children will be delighted by the silly gags and a few inventive sequences in the film, but for anyone looking for an animation to rival the great recent string we’ve had, you will be sorely disappointed.
5 out of 10
Have you seen Despicable Me? Did you enjoy yourself?