(Long Island, N.Y.) It’s not often that you find a film where the main character is a bad guy…and this usually goes double when it comes to animated fare. Yet that is exactly what we get with the release of Despicable Me, a CG movie produced by Universal Studios and one of the few entertaining animated flicks in ages (Along with Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon) NOT made by a company named Pixar.
The aforementioned bad guy heading up the cast of Despicable Me is Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), a character clearly inspired by Charles Addams’ Uncle Fester. Gru is a wanna-be super villain who never seems to get it right. Oh, sure, he’s got an army of adorable yellow blobs (dubbed “Minions”) who clumsily carry out his every ruthless command, and he’s pulled off a few minor capers successfully (his most recent involving using a freeze ray on the line at Starbuck’s to cut to the front). However, there’s nothing on his resume that would ever catapult him into the ranks of criminal super-stardom, and as a result, the Bank Of Evil (formerly Lehman Bros.) that funds his endeavors is threatening to pull their support, begging the question: what’s a super villain doing borrowing money from a bank, even if it IS a Bank of Evil? Why doesn’t he just STEAL it? I mean, that would certainly cement his status as a top bad guy, right?
Anyway, faced with a lack of funds and competition from a hot young criminal newcomer (the nerdy Vector, voiced by Jason Segel), Gru becomes desperate. In order to finally break out of his rut, he devises his masterstroke: he will shrink and steal Earth’s moon itself! However, there’s just one tiny little problem: once Gru steals the required shrink ray weapon from a lab in Asia, it’s in turn stolen from him by Vector. Unable to pierce the formidable defenses of Vector’s fortress, Gru decides to use cunning where brute force has failed. He adopts the three orphan children that Vector had previously placed a cookie order with in order to use them as disposable pawns; when they deliver Vector’s Thin Mints, Gru plans to use the opportunity to steal back the shrink ray. But will the kids’ innocence and charm melt Gru’s cold, evil heart and inspire him to change his ways? Or will he just get his hands on the shrink ray and feed the annoying brats to sharks with lasers attached to their heads?
Despicable Me was one of the few recent movies I’ve seen that actually managed to live up to the promise suggested by its trailer. It’s fun and lighthearted, but with just enough of an edge (due to Gru being evil and all) to keep things from getting too cutesy. For example: when Gru brings home the kids/pawns for the first time, he demonstrates his blatant disregard for their needs by introducing them to the “facilities”…a few sheets of newspaper with a sign hilariously reading “POOP AND PEE.” Gru’s wonderful self-centeredness is the crux of many of the gags in Despicable Me, but, as can be expected in a major studio release, he’s eventually revealed to be a not-so-bad kinda guy way deep down. It’s depressing that no film ever really manages to go all the way with the whole “main character as a villain” concept, but Despicable Me isn’t really the movie to try and do that in…it’s a kid’s flick, after all, so I guess the protagonist shouldn’t really be hacking children apart with an axe.
But with that said, there’s plenty of jokes aimed at older folks as well, and the genuinely funny gags and quips come at a rapid-fire pace, thus ensuring that the film never gets boring. Despicable Me is the rare film that, through the benefit of smart writing, talent, and design, manages to have a broad appeal and loads of charm without appearing to be trying too hard to be “cool.”
The voice talent and character design are a big part of what makes Despicable Me work so well. Steve Carell doesn’t just do Steve Carell; he conjures a delivery for Gru that reminded me slightly of Dracula, and it fits his dark, sinister, yet slightly peculiar depiction perfectly. That unusual design aesthetic carries over to the rest of Despicable Me’s cast and surroundings; the overall art style is quite cartoony, exaggerated, disproportionate, and over-the-top. Gru drives a giant jet-propelled armored car around town and lives in a towering, menacing black house in the middle a typical suburban utopia. You can really tell the artists went wild…well, except when it came to the three orphans, whose appearance appears to have been directly mandated by Universal Studio’s marketing department. Margo (Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly fame), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) are all solid, amusing characters (the unicorn-loving Agnes is especially endearing), but out of everyone in the movie they’re the only characters that were obviously designed to be “cute” first and foremost, as a result they achingly stand out as the only “normal” (read as: bland) looking ones in the entire movie. 2009’s stop-motion animation based Coraline displayed character designs that were both quirky yet appealing, proving that the makers of Despicable Me didn’t have to go the ultra-generic route with the orphans just to try and tug on our heartstrings. It’s a minor complaint, but it’s just something I wanted to touch on.
Oh, yeah, the Minions. They’re like Corn Pops with big googly eyes and overalls. They speak gibberish, foul up Gru’s orders more often than not, and you’re going to wish you could own a few hundred of them by the time the movie’s over. Needless to say, they’re pretty awesome and a big part of Despicable Me’s appeal- they’re cute in a totally weird and outlandish way, unlike the orphans, who are far more pedestrian and as a result, far less memorable.
Despicable Me is a great film for kids and adults alike. Highly recommended for anyone with a pulse and a brain, and if you’re reading this, you’re likely to have both. Go see it.
