Despicable Me

Despicable Me
2010
Directed by: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Segel

Children's movies now-a-days are usually pretty straight forward. There are cute depictions of characters in strange adult situations, then there are some pretty raunchy jokes that only an adult would fully understand. The allure of this movie revolved around the phenomenal advertising. The minion characters came through in the advertisements to showcase the movie in such a way that the movie seemed to possess a "can't miss" ability.

The movie itself, however, lacked a few key ingredients. I feel that the story and jokes were stuck in limbo between adult and child humor. Some of the key jokes were not so much geared toward one group of people, but stuck in a place that couldn't make a decision of whether to flop or be funny.

The story revolves around Gru, a not-so-talented super villian who needs to pull off a big heist in order to gain approval from the so-called "Bank of Evil". He battles fellow villian Vector and the "hilarity" ensues. The basis of the movie also focuses on the fact that Gru adopts three young girls to help him gain access to Vector's lair. The girls are young and fruitful and have lots of love for this strange man that adopts them. They win over his heart and during his villainy he develops a true appreciation for these cute ones. Their innocence transcends through his relationship with them. Does he act evil? Or does he change his ways for the better of the girls?

His assistant, an old doctor, sees how Gru is changing a bit and decides the girls must go. The rest of the movie shows the battle between Gru and Vector. But also there is a battle between Gru and his own soul. The flat, overused and redundant "humor" doesn't catch anything. There are absolutely cute and funny parts, but I found that the comedy factor was lacking. I enjoyed the movie but did not get a humor quotient I would normally expect from a movie with the hype it had. Without the presence of the girls and the minions the movie would have been a 100% bust. Steve Carell's unusual accent is off-balanced, and he should just stick to being the normal looking, goofy, funnyish guy.

Stars (out of 4): * *