I have to be honest; I didn’t like this movie as much as I hoped I would. But then, the last two animated films I saw were Toy Story 3 and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Maybe it was too much to hope that “Despicable Me” would be just as good?
To be fair, DM is actually pretty good for what it is: a story of a villain turned loving father by three mischievous little girls. It’s funny, it’s cute, it’s well (voice) acted and it had great graphics (I didn’t see it on 3D so I can’t tell how good those effects are however.)
(Warning: spoilers ahead)
I do have a few problems with the story however:
- The introductory section (where it is found out that the Pyramid of Giza had been stolen) felt too long, and the characters seen there never reappeared (that I noticed- maybe they are in the background somewhere). It felt a little too long to set up a plot point that, while important to the story, was never mentioned again (and was never explained, either. How was the pyramid stolen? Why? Was it ever recovered?) The whole thing just felt like an excuse to make fun of the Jerk American Tourist stereotype. A-Hyuk!
-The main character, Gru, despite being an evil genius, actually wasn’t so smart. For example, why adopt three little girls when all he wanted them to do was to slip in the cookie-bots into Vector’s lab? Couldn’t he have simply snuck the cookies into their bags? Or even more simple just PAID the girls to do it? Of course, that may have been the point- to show how careless Gru was.
-Also, I didn’t find Gru falling for the girls convincing enough. Especially since the movie starts by showing how mean Gru was even to children. Why wasn’t he simply strict with them from the start? I half-expected him to freeze-ray them until needed! Now if he had learned more about their sad past, and possibly correlated it more with his own, it might have been more believable. I can’t help feeling more scenes were needed here… maybe if the INTRO hadn’t been so LONG they could’ve spared the room, grumble.
-Why is stealing the Moon such a big deal? OK, it would be THE biggest crime of all history, but it isn’t like people would PAY to get it back. The only possible effect the loss of our moon would have would be a change in the tides… and I’m sure nature and people would eventually adapt to that.
-The whole subplot with getting the money for building the rocket falls flat when Gru ends up building a perfect one out of available materials anyway. Why didn’t he do that from the start? In fact why even USE the Bank of Evil- don’t villains just STEAL what they want or need?
-I’m also annoyed by the fact some of the movies’ villains didn’t get punished. Sure, Vector is now on the moon, where he’ll probably die unless his father rescues him, but the President of the Bank of Evil is still free to act, and so is the Bitch that runs the girl’s orphanage. Honestly, if there was a truly evil character in the movie, it was her! I know, I know, material for a sequel, but I can’t help but feel that their threat should’ve been taken care of so Gru and the Girls could rest easier.
I sound more annoyed than I really am. I liked the characters and I liked most of the sequences too, and I know it’s a kid’s cartoon so logic doesn’t have to be perfect in it (I have a hard time turning off my cynical side is all. ) I WAS actually impressed by the fact that the minions were actually CAPABLE- I kept expecting them to screw up majorly at some point, but they never did, and in fact they saved Gru and Madge in the end! Not bad for genetically engineered corn seeds!
I enjoyed the movie, and I recommend it- and I truly hope there’s a sequel someday (hopefully better paced and with no loose ends.)
-Wil