Villain finds his softer side in comedic 'Despicable Me'
Universal Pictures' "Despicable Me" fills the bill as a mildly diverting, whimsically entertaining 3-D computer-animated feature for kids.
But in the wake of Pixar's multilayered "Toy Story 3," brimming with sadness, horror, adventure and time-passage metaphors targeting more mature viewers, the French-made "Despicable Me" may come off as a more generic production that will be instantly forgotten once the end credits roll.
What's it about?
Look no further than the commercials and theatrical trailers. They tell us everything we need to know about the story arc: "From Super Bad to Super Dad!"
Steve Carell supplies the villainous hero, known as Gru, with a cartoony Russian accent that, to the actor's credit, never grates on the eardrums as it so easily could.
Gru wants to become the greatest villain in the world. To do that, he'll have to steal something even more daring than the great pyramid, the most recent achievement of his closest villainous rival, the enigmatic couch potato Vector (Jason Segel).
Gru's plan: to steal the moon from the sky with help from a super shrink ray.
Meanwhile, the emotional subplot kicks in when three lovable little orphans - Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) - arrive at his doorstep selling cookies for Miss Hattie's Home for Girls, run by the no-nonsense Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig).
The three girls give the would-be master villain an inspired idea: He'll use the girls to infiltrate his rival's headquarters and supply him with information that will enable Gru to become the best at being the worst.
The diabolic Gru receives backup from an army of strange-looking characters called "minions" that resemble ultra-cute tater-tots, some with two eyes, some with only one. (I tried to figure out the significance of the two-eyed vs. the one-eyed minions, but had to give it up.)
The premise of three orphans forced to help a villainous funny man recalls "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events." The ray guns and spy action sequences resemble Pixar's "The Incredibles." The choice that Gru must make - between fulfilling his own selfish interests and attending the orphans' talent contest as he promised - has been plucked from too many previous family comedies to mention.
To their credit, first-time feature directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, who hail from the popular "Ice Age" comedies, keep the characters and story in constant motion.
Carell pumps all the personality into Gru that the character can handle, and yet, there's never a moment when we think of him as actually a terrifying villain. He's just too darn nice, even at his most maniacal, super-villainous moments.
(To understand what motivates Gru to be so bad, the movie gives us flashbacks to his childhood, a never-ending series of pleas for attention and approval from his unsupportive mother, voiced by Julie Andrews.)
By "Toy Story 3" standards, the expected emotional shift from super bad to super dad feels arbitrary and rushed, with little Agnes' announcement to Gru "I love you" serving more as a plot accelerator than a genuine, heartfelt expression of emotion.
The most moving scene in "Despicable Me" takes place one night when Gru reluctantly agrees to tell his three guests a bedtime story. He reads from a book that has three finger puppets attached to it, each representing a kitten, or orphan.
It's the movie's most honest moment, one that holds the three girls, and us, nearly spellbound by Gru as he simply tells a story.
And it has nothing to do with gadgets, chases, special effects or a gratuitously thrilling 3-D roller coaster ride, that, incidentally, are pretty engaging, too.
<p class="factboxheadblack">"Despicable Me"</p>
<p class="News">★★★</p>
<p class="News"><b>Starring:</b> Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Kristen Wiig, Julie Andrews</p>
<p class="News"><b>Directed by:</b> Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin</p>
<p class="News"><b>Other:</b> A Universal Pictures release. Rated PG. 95 minutes</p>
<div class="infoBox">
<h1>More Coverage</h1>
<div class="infoBoxContent">
<div class="infoArea">
<h2>Video</h2>
<ul class="video">
<object width="300" height="205"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwPxfIeHkYc&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwPxfIeHkYc&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="300" height="205"></embed></object>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>