DESPICABLE ME (2010)

Not so despicable...

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Steve Carell and Jason Segal go head to head in the surprisingly entertaining Despicable Me. I, like everyone else, has seen the trailers and constant bombardment of dancing, yellow, one eyed little dudes in the weeks prior to this film’s release. However, I did relatively little looking into before seeing the film as frankly, it looked funny, but my desire to see it was … meh.

However, at a time where there really wasn’t much to see I decided to give it a try. I didn’t regret it. Despicable Me is the story of an evil mastermind named Gru (Steve Carell) who is constantly trying to trump every other evil genius out there and make headlines as the best thief ever. He’s a loveable character who seems to be past his glory days and has trouble thinking outside the box. He has his typical minions (Oompa Loompa-inspired shorties colored yellow) and a mad scientist named Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) at his disposal. The new guy in town, however, named Vector (Jason Segal) is the new kid with the new ideas and the better technology. Wherever Gru seems to strike, Vector is right behind him stealing the thunder.

As part of one of his dastardly plans to steal a shrink ray from Vector, Gru decides to adopt three girls from an orphanage to infiltrate Vector’s lair. However, what he doesn’t expect is he may end up kinda like-liking the girls a little more than he may have planned on.

Despicable Me has a more typical ending than I would have liked, however where it won me over was the atypical overall feel of the film which reminded me a lot of Coraline. It has some darker moments that fit the tone of the overall movie perfectly, and in a way I can’t describe it sort of gave me the heebie jeebies. This is far from a bad thing though as it makes the tone of the movie far more richer than something like Shrek, which is hit and miss but always typical. You’ll know what I mean when you see it.

It’s this touch of originality though that I loved about the film which is why I am giving it an open door. The film treats you right and hits a lot of the right notes without selling out. Plus I love Steve Carell. Let’s just hope he doesn’t overdo it in the future like Robin Williams, where just because he’s awkward and silly and makes funny voices he feels like he can forgo any effort whatsoever, when it comes to acting and or voice acting.

*Stills courtesy of Illumination Entertainment