"DESPICABLE ME" is the Opposite - Delightful

[Carl M. Zapffe]

"DESPICABLE ME" (2010) ... A- ... This thoroughly delightful cartoon features the voice of Steve Carell as Gru, a mad scientist who is constantly being egged on by his never-approving mother (voice of Julie Andrews, of all people!) to be a greater success at evil. Gru lives in a dark and foreboding Victorian mansion greatly out of place on a pleasant and well kept suburban street of tract houses. He has an adorably mean pet (I want one!), a dog-like monster featuring an oversized mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. The house's other surprise is a secret underground laboratory filled with hundreds of "minions," squeaky little bulb-like creatures with either one or two eyes in the center of their heads.

And did I mention that Gru drives a politically incorrect gas guzzler which muscles and dents other cars to get into a parking space? He parks in front of the "Bank of Evil" to meet with the friendly banker who has been financing his nefarious acts, but this time his banker proves not to be so friendly. It seems that Gru has competition in Vector (voice of Jason Segel), a young whiz kid who has invented a shrink ray machine which allowed him to steal a pyramid and achieve worldwide notoriety. What has Gru done lately to compare to this?  

Slapped down in such a humiliating manner, Gru decides to spy on Vector to see if he can steal the shrink ray machine and use it to shrink the moon. That will surely make him the most infamous villain of all time, but doing this proves to be difficult as Vector's home is armed to the hilt. Then Gru sees three adorable munchkins selling candy door to door to fund their orphanage and they easily gain admittance into Vector's mansion to sell their sweets. 

Gru decides to visit the orphanage to adopt the three orphans, but Miss Hattie (voice of Kristan Wiig) needs proof that he will be a fit parent. Eventually, the  curmudgeonly Gru drives home with Margo (voice of Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (voice of Dana Gaier), and Agnes (voice of Elsie Fisher). Then a race is on to see which will happen first: Gru stealing the moon or these three adorable kids stealing what passes for a heart in the formerly heartless Gru. 

The movie does slack off a bit when it dives into the competitive silliness between Gru and Vector, so some points off for that. I would have plotted it differently with less Vector and more time spent with the minions and the three kids. 95 minutes and rated PG for rude humor and mild action.

Carl M. Zapffe,

The Cat's Meow Movie Critic

http://www.catsmeowmoviecritic.com