Despicable Me (2010) - Film Review
Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Segal, Russell Brand & Pierre Coffin
Screenplay: Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio
Directed By: Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
Certificate: U
The
modern day world of animated films would appear to be dominated by
three different studios: Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks. All three have
released major hits in the past ten years alone, and their domination
of the market has made it difficult for any new contenders to secure
their own hit. That is until the release of Despicable Me,
the first film from Illumination Entertainment. Accompanied by an
extensive marketing campaign, the film has become one of the biggest
hits of the year, but is it as much of a critical success as it is a
commercial one?
When
the Great Pyramid of Giza is stolen by an up-and-coming supervillain,
Vector, fellow supervillain Gru feels the need to do something even
better. To do this, Gru, with the help of gadget-man Dr. Nefario and
his servants, the small yellow henchmen known as Minions, plot to
steal the Moon, but need to obtain a shrink ray stolen by Vector to
do so. Gru's plan to gain access to Vector's fortress leads to him
adopting three young girls, but as he spends more time with them, he
is torn between his supervillain lifestyle and becoming a father.
Although
Despicable Me is a film that families can watch,
there's no disguising the fact that it's primarily appealing to
children and younger audiences. Thanks to a mix of slapstick,
cuteness and good child-friendly humour, it succeeds in this regard.
It's Gru's Minions that would appear to steal the show, and it's not
hard to understand why they've proven so popular. After all, there is
plenty of merchandise to be made out of them, they're easy for kids
to draw thanks to their simple design, and all the laughs are purely
visual and exist in the moment. The Minions undoubtedly make a huge
contribution to Despicable Me's sense of pure fun.
However, don't mistake the Minions to be the only comedy stars of the
film – there are still plenty of times where the likes of Gru or
Dr. Nefario are the ones to make us laugh. Steve Carell in particular
gets the chance to display some great and unexpected dry wit as Gru,
and even names such as Kristen Wiig and Julie Andrews show up in
hilarious minor roles. Gru's girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes also have
their part to play, particularly the youngest, Agnes, who not only
feels reminiscent of Boo from Monster's Inc., but is
one of the cutest things to be found in the film.
Going
hand in hand with the child-friendly appeal, Despicable Me
further features some nice, colourful animation. This was clearly
intended to be a very bright and visually striking film, and the
animators get plenty of chances to show their creative side. At one
point, Gru takes his adopted daughters to a theme park, and while
this marks something of a turning point for him, it's also made into
one of the most lively and energetic sequences of the film thanks to
some stunning animation. Despicable Me quite rightly
doesn't shy away from its stylized and cartoon side either, but
embraces it instead. There are moments that come across like an
episode of Tom & Jerry, and there's even a bit
where Gru gets to impossibly flip, dive and ricochet his way through
a fleet of approaching missiles. The production throughout is topped
off with a surprisingly good soundtrack from Pharrell Williams, and
the film even concludes to the sound of the Bee Gees' hit, You
Should Be Dancing.
Another
surprise with Despicable Me was the impressive voice
acting from everyone involved. The production team seem to have taken
a few risks along the way by casting actors in roles they aren't
typically known for, such as Steve Carell as supervillain Gru.
Nevertheless, it's a decision that's paid off, and Steve Carell gives
Gru a great “bad guy” voice that I think sits somewhere between a
Russian and Eastern-European goon. Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud and
Jemaine Clement do a similarly good job voicing the incomprehensible
language of the Minions, even though I'm not quite sure how they
achieved it. Probably the most unexpected vocal role was Russell
Brand as Dr. Nefario. While watching the film, I literally had no
idea that it was Russell Brand voicing the character. I am in no way
a Russell Brand fan, but credit where it's due as that was
practically the opposite of anything I'd expect from him.
However,
not everything works about Despicable Me, and I started
to see some cracks and flaws once I looked towards the actual story.
It's fair to say that while the film may be innovative in some areas,
the story it's telling is the fairly unoriginal one of a bad guy
gradually turning good. Once Gru adopts the girls, it's pretty clear
where the film is going from here, and that we're going to see him
start off being hostile towards them, but that he'll gradually grow
closer to them, before finally accepting them. It's something that's
been seen before in several other animated features, such as Toy
Story or Kung Fu Panda. While there isn't
anything wrong with repeating it here, there's just something about
it that feels a bit too stale and predictable for it to fully work.
Now
the following is something that annoyed me from a personal point of
view rather than being a more general problem, and it concerns Gru's
rival and the film's antagonist, Vector. Firstly, I will say that it
has nothing to do with Jason Segal's performance, as that was
actually some very good voice work. However, Vector very quickly got
on my nerves and brought back some bad memories. The character isn't
so much a threat as he is genuinely annoying and awkward to watch,
and he reminded me so much of someone from my schooldays. Let's just
say that like Vector, this person seemed to think they were cool,
funny and quirky, whereas they were in fact irritating, awkward and
has some very unsettling world views. Ironically, I've since learnt
that this person also loves this film, and Vector's character –
make of that what you will. Vector seriously puts me off watching the
film, and whenever he shows up and is going “Oh yeah!”, I
find myself pulled out of the experience. Again, this may be just a
personal thing, but Vector was just too annoying to be an effective
villain.
Overall,
Despicable Me is a film that's very close to something
I can call good, and in the areas where it does succeed, it does so
with flying colours. However, in the areas where it doesn't work –
it really doesn't work. Young audiences are very likely to
enjoy it, and that's what really matters, but this isn't the best
animated film there has been recently. Maybe it's because Despicable
Me comes to us in a time where we've recently enjoyed
absolutely fantastic animated films such as Up, Toy
Story 3 and Monsters Vs. Aliens, that it
doesn't leave quite the same impression. But even so, Despicable
Me is still a lively, funny and enjoyable family film.
Despicable Me
6/10