Sean McBride
The Port Arthur News
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It's not easy being a super-villain nowadays. First, you have to come up with a dastardly plan to take over the world. Then you have to manage your army of minion helpers and deal with rival villains who want to steal your thunder. With all of this, who has time to raise a family?
That's the basic set up for a charming new animated family film, “Despicable Me” which thrives because of a funny screenplay, a winning central performance as the bad guy from Steve Carell, a little 3D action, and some vibrant animation design to keep the tiny tots interested. On top of all of this, we get a minion army of bright yellow helper mutants. They are adorable, and I suspect that they will become much sought-after plushy toys before everything is said and done.
Carell plays Gru, a super-villain struggling to get a little respect. His bumbling minion army of mutants are more trouble than help, and the guy who invents his tools is hard of hearing, so the weapons he produces aren't always exactly what Gru had in mind. Obviously, it's hard out there for a bad guy.
After he's embarrassed by a rival villain (Jason Segel), Gru decides to pull of the mother of all heists — he will steal the moon! But first, he must deal with a trio of young orphans who demand that he read to them at night, take them to ballet class and basically act like a caring parent. In all the superhero movies, it's not often that we get to see into the villain's family life. It makes for an engaging story, and obviously, one that offers plenty of opportunity for feel-good, pre-family messages.
Who says that Pixar is the only studio that knows how to make quality family animation? “Despicable Me” does everything right and should prove to be a family favorite for years to come. I'm not sure if it's worth the extra bucks to see this in 3D, but that minor financial consideration aside, “Despicable Me” turns out to be an adorable film.
Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published bi-weekly in “The Port Arthur News” and weekly on KFDM-TV. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@kbcitv.com.
