Despicable Me
Chris Renaud

The story: Gru (Steve Carell) is a big bad villain and for his next dastardly deed, he plans to steal the moon. First, though, he needs to get a shrink ray back from rival villain Vector (Jason Segel). As part of his plan to do this, he adopts three little orphan girls who go door to door selling cookies. Soon, Gru finds that his priorities begin to change.

Despicable Me is a kiddy flick. Which is to say that those who will enjoy it most are likely to be from the under-12 set. They will dig the bright, cheery colour palette, the literal humour and the fact that Gru is really not a very scary villain.
Early on, to establish his despicable credentials, the audience is shown Gru jamming his air-polluting oversized vehicle between two cars – and then front- and rear-ending them. He steps into a coffee shop and uses his freeze ray to jump queue. Evil just ain’t what it used to be.
He is supposed to be a master villain but somehow you sense that his heart is not quite in it.
Comic actor Steve Carell from the sitcom The Office voices Gru with vaguely east European-accented English and the thought of him hamming it up in the recording studio is enough to raise a smile.
To aid him in his nefarious doings, Gru has an entire army of minions – excitable, quarrelsome little yellow creatures who talk with cutesy voices in an incomprehensible language. That is, until the DVD or Blue Ray comes out and includes the decoding of the high-pitched tittering as an extra.
Another major sidekick is the hard-of-hearing evil scientist Dr Nefario (comedian Russell Brand) who hears “dart gun” and invents a fart gun.
Meanwhile, Gru’s nemesis, the nerdy and cocky Vector, who has been stealing the limelight with more showy shenanigans, is prone to inventing guns which shoot resigned piranhas and bemused squid.
This is pretty much the level the film is pitched at and when it tries to be snarky, the change of tone feels out of place. When Gru attempts to get a loan from the Bank Of Evil, underneath that title is the punchline “Formerly Lehman Brothers”.
However, Despicable Me is not so much interested in coming up with zingers on topics of the day as it wants to warm the cockles of your heart. The audience learns how Gru desperately sought approval from his mother (Julie Andrews) as a child but nothing he did impressed her.
It is not hard to see where the story of Gru and the little orphan girls will end up. You just wish the entire process was a little less manipulative.
Stay on for the credits as a trio of irrepressible minions make a welcome return. They compete to see who can stretch out furthest into the audience, a nice little scene that also showcases the 3-D effects. Sometimes, it is the simplest gags that tickle the funny bone, regardless of one’s age.
(ST)