DESPICABLE ME 3 REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

It's hard to believe that it's been almost a decade since the release of Illumination Entertainment's debut feature film, Despicable Me, which was a fun and entertaining animation that focused on Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and his desperate attempts to steal the moon in order to become the greatest villain. However, after adopting three young girls, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher), he soon has a change of heart and goes from being 'superbad' to becoming a 'superdad'. It proved to be a big success with the majority of critics giving it favourable reviews. It was entertaining for the whole family and went on to earn over $543 million at the box office. Three years later, its sequel was released and, fortunately, in terms of humour and storytelling, it matched that of its predecessor. After being recruited by the Anti Villain League, he teamed up with Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and the two eventually developed a relationship which lead to them getting married at the end of the film. Despicable Me 2 just missed out on making $1 billion, however, it received over $970 million at the box office. The most popular characters from both films were Gru's Minions and their spin-off film was released in 2015. While critics weren't impressed with this one as much as its predecessors, it was a huge success at the box office, earning $1.1 billion. Now, a follow-up to the second film has been released, however, is it a disappointment like Minions or just as good as its predecessors?

Despicable Me 3 opens by introducing us to the main villain, Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) who, after spending his childhood portraying an evil genius on a hit TV show, grows up to be just like his character after his show was cancelled once he hit puberty. He now wants revenge and begins by stealing a large diamond from a ship. This leads to Gru and Lucy trying to capture him, unfortunately, they are unsuccessful and are soon fired from the Anti Villain League. Gru soon discovers he has a twin brother, Dru (also voiced by Carell), and the two work together on stealing back the diamond from Bratt who has plans to destroy Hollywood with his new giant robot.

While Despicable Me 3 isn't as good as its predecessor, it's not as bad as what Minions was. By focusing too much on the Minions, who speak a gibberish-like language written by the directors, Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, it lacked the fun of the first two films. Fortunately, I would say that they've returned to form with the fourth film in the franchise. By bringing back Gru and Lucy, Despicable Me 3 is enjoyable to watch. The pair work well together, however, when Gru meets his twin brother, Dru, Lucy focuses more on bonding with her new stepdaughters. In a subplot, we see Lucy taking Margo, Edith and Agnes out and learns how to be a good mother and these scenes are effective and continues the theme of family. 

Once again, Carell brings back his comical voice of Gru, however, this time he also voices Dru, who is the complete opposite of Gru and has a loud, excitable voice. At first, Gru gets annoyed by his brother, however, the pair soon develop a relationship together and bring most of the humour. We see another side to Lucy as she tries to bond with her new stepdaughters, however, she still remains just as bubbly and optimistic as the previous film.

For those who think the Minions can be a bit much at times can breathe a sigh of relief as their scenes are reduced. After Gru quits villainy for good, his Minions leave him and, after causing mayhem in the city, are sent to prison where they soon stage a breakout. To be honest, I don't mind the Minions too much, I don't think that they're irritating as some of the scenes can provide humour. One of their est scenes is when they accidentally end up on stage and begin performing. One supporting character I did miss was Gru's friend, Dr. Nefario who was voiced by stand-up comedian Russell Brand in the first two films, however, Gru informs his Minions that he accidentally froze himself in carbonite. I'm not sure why Nefario was written out of this film but I hope he can be written back in if there's ever a sequel.

The main villains from the previous two films were Vector (Jason Segal) and El Macho (Benjamin Bratt), of the two, I found Vector to find the funniest and best of the two as, like Gru, he was also a villain and wanted to steal the moon. I think that Balthazar Bratt is an improvement over El Macho was the previous villain as he's a lot more entertaining. He has giant purple shoulder pads and, whilst committing his crimes, he dances to his favourite 80s music including Michael Jackson's 'Bad', Madonna's 'Into The Groove' and A-ha's 'Take On Me'. While I doubt children will recongise these songs, I'm sure their parents will have a good chuckle watching Bratt dancing to their favourite 80s tunes. Parker is best known for creating the 1996 animated series, South Park, so he might seem an odd choice to appear in a children's film, however, he soon turns out to be a great choice.

Pharrell Williams returns to the Despicable Me franchise once again and brings seven new songs with him including 'Yellow Light', 'There's Something Special' and 'Hug Me' which features Parker. While they are all solid tracks, my favourite being 'There's Something Special', they don't quite match up to Williams' number one track from the sequel, 'Happy'.

For those who enjoyed the previous films, I'm sure you'll find lots to enjoy in this latest installment and I doubt you'll be disappointed. 

7/10

DESPICABLE ME 2 REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In 2010, Illuminations Entertainment released their debut feature film, Despicable Me, which was based on the life of try-hard villain, Gru (voice of Steve Carell). It was a success, both among film critics and audiences and also at the box office, earning over $543 million. Because of Despicable Me's success, a sequel was released three years later. Nowadays, most sequels aren't as good as their predecessor but can the same be said for Despicable Me 2?

While Gru, the ex-supervillain is adjusting to family life and an attempted honest living in the jam business, a secret Arctic laboratory is stolen. The Anti-Villain League decides it needs an insider's help and recruits Gru in the investigation. Together with the eccentric AVL agent, Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), Gru concludes that his prime suspect is the presumed dead supervillain, El Macho (Benjamin Bratt), whose teenage son (Moises Arias) is also making the moves on his eldest daughter, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove). Seemingly blinded by his overprotectiveness of his children and his growing mutual attraction to Lucy, Gru seems on the wrong track even as his minions are being quietly kidnapped en masse for some malevolent purpose.

Despicable Me was, surprisingly, a highly entertaining animated film that revolved around the life of Gru and his attempt to be the best villain by stealing the moon. However, his life was changed after adopting the three girls, Margo, Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher), and he goes from superbad to superdad. This character development worked really well and gave the film a heartwarming ending. Despicable Me 2 picks up where its predecessor left off, with Gru living life as a father to his three adopted girls. Instead of scheming, the film opens with him throwing a party for Agnes and dressing up as a fairy princess, when the original fails to turn up. This scene proves how much of a doting father Gru has become, however, he finds himself using his knowledge of villains to help the Anti-Villain League. In the previous film, Wiig voiced the evil Miss Hattie and she returns but lends her voice to Lucy, an eccentric and bubbly woman who teams up with Gru. With Carell and Wiig both being experienced in comedy, they know how to get viewers to laugh. As the film progresses, the pair develop a convincing relationship. 

There's no doubt children will love this follow-up, however, there's plenty for older viewers to enjoy too.  Writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio have included enough jokes that will entertain the whole family. There's a funny subplot involving Gru, in protective-father mode, trying to stop Margo from forming a relationship with El Macho's son, Antonio. One of the funniest scenes shows Margo and Antonio dancing together at a party with Gru trying new ways to separate the pair. It's something that a lot of parents will be able to relate to, I'm sure. 

Apart from Gru, the funniest characters were his minions. Because of their unique appearance and their gibberish-like language, which is written by directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, the minions were the most entertaining characters to watch. In the first film, they were mainly there to serve Gru, however, in this sequel, they soon begin disappearing after the main villain begins to kidnap them to use them for his own gain. This leads to viewers seeing a completely different and darker side to the beloved minions. It's a twist I didn't see coming when I first watched this sequel. However, the reveal of the villain wasn't as surprising, due to it being so obvious. This doesn't ruin the film, though. 

One of my favourite things about the previous film was its climax which showed Gru successfully achieving his plan of stealing the moon, however, he soon does the right thing by saving his three adopted daughters from the evil Vector (Jason Segal). While the climax of this sequel isn't as good due to the lack of tension and because it borders more on ridiculous rather than exciting, it's still enjoyable to watch. 

The animation, like its predecessor, is filled with bright and vibrant colours. It's not the best animated, however, it's far from the worst. While Despicable Me wasn't nominated for any Academy Awards, it still walked away with a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 2011 Golden Globes. In 2014, the sequel was one of five animated features nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards, however, it lost to Disney's Frozen. 

Despicable Me 2 also received a nomination for Pharrell Williams' song 'Happy' which is played out in a sequence that features Gru happy dancing on his way to meet Lucy. Williams' uplifting and powerful song, which was written and produced by him, went to Number 1 in many countries across the globe and, as of April 2016, has sold over four million copies in the UK. I doubt many people will be watching this scene with a straight face. The song is effective and will bring a smile to anyone's face, no matter what mood you're in.

In answer to my earlier question, yes, Despicable Me 2 is just as good as its predecessor. The reception it received from both critics and audiences was mainly positive. At the box office, it just missed out on reaching the $1 billion mark and received over $970 million. Because of this, a spin-off film based on Gru's beloved minions was released in 2015 and that received over $1 billion at the box office. At time of writing this, the third film is about to be released and I have no doubts that it'll be just as entertaining as its predecessors. 

7/10

DESPICABLE ME REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

​Since its release in 2010, Despicable Me has gone on to become a successful franchise in its own right with two sequels and a spin-off film, Minions. When it was first released seven years ago, many people had low expectations as it was Illumination Entertainment's first animated film. However, those expectations were beaten and Despicable Me proved to be enjoyable for the whole family.
In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (voice of Steve Carrell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon. Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher).
Because I was in my early teens when Despicable Me was released, I had no interest in watching and passed it off as nothing more than a kid's film. However, it proved to be more than that. It features one of the best character developments in any animated film. In the beginning, Gru wants nothing more to become the best villain in the world and he thinks that, by literally stealing the moon, he will achieve that goal. Unfortunately, his nemesis, Vector (Jason Segal), has the same plan and steals a Shrink-Ray from Gru. This leads to Gru's many various attempts at breaking into Vector's house, all of them failing hilariously. This is where Gru sees the three young girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes, who sell Vector cookies and he comes up with a plan to adopt them and use them for his own gain. However, after succeeding, Gru becomes closer to the girls and becomes a father-like figure to them. This leads to him making one of the hardest decisions of his life. Does he go through with shrinking and stealing the moon or should he attend the girls' dance recital?
Apart from achieving the theme of family, Despicable Me also succeeds in being constantly funny. The humour mainly comes from, of course, Carrell's voice work as Gru, whose accent is described as a cross between Ricardo Montalban and Bela Lugosi, two actors I'm not familiar with, however, it makes Gru's voice all the more unique. Humour also comes from Gru's 'minions' who are short, yellow figures and are voiced by directors, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, who, together, came up with their own language for the minions and sounds a lot like gibberish.
Recognisable names include: Russell Brand as Gru's friend, Dr. Nefario, who creates gadgets such as Cookie Robots and a dart gun; Julie Andrews as Gru's disapproving mother and Will Arnett as Gru's boss, Mr. Perkins. All give solid voice work and add to the enjoyment of the film.
The three young sisters are developed well enough to make them likeable. Before Gru adopts them, they are living in a foster home run by Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig) who is Despicable Me's answer to Miss Hannigan from Annie. As the oldest of the three, Margo is the most mature and isn't fooled by Gru. Edith is mischievous and Agnes is cute and obsessed with unicorns. The sisters' relationship with Gru is convincingly developed after the four have fun together at a fair with Gru winning Agnes a giant unicorn toy with her screaming in delight, 'It's so fluffy!'. Unfortunately, Gru's relationship with his newly adopted daughters puts his original plan of stealing the moon at risk as it coincides with their dance recital. However, the three girls are kidnapped by Vector and the climax of the film involves Gru transforming from a villain to hero when he goes out to rescue them.
After the release of Despicable Me, it went on to become one of the highest grossing animated films of that year, making over $543 million at the box office. It also received critical acclaim with many stating that it's a 'suprisingly thoughtful, family-friendly treat'.
Despite being released the same year as other animated features such as Toy Story 3, Tangled and Shrek Forever After, Despicable Me proved to be successful with both critics and audiences alike. This lead to a sequel being released three years later. Because of the success of Despicable Me, Illuminations Entertainment have gone on to release other animated features including The Secret Life Of Pets and Sing.

Despicable Me isn't the best of animated feature films, however, it's certainly one of the most entertaining. The humour is consistent throughout, mainly because of Carrell's funny vocal work as Gru. It succeeds mainly because of its protagonist who goes from being, as the poster suggests from superbad to superdad and the narrative shows that family doesn't necassarily mean the people who are related to you by blood.
Overall, Despicable Me is a fun and entertaining watch.
7/10