THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
If you grew up in the 2000s, you know a few particular studios that have defined animation: Walt Disney/Pixar, Dreamworks and Studio Ghibli. However by 2010, Illumination joined those ranks when making the mark with Despicable Me.
PLOT
The film takes place in a world where crime is at an all time high where various super villains commit countless crimes. One of which is Felonious Gru who despite having aid of Scientist Doctor Nefario and a henchman army of yellow creatures known as ‘Minions’, his success has declined. When another villain named Vector raises the bar of villainy by stealing a pyramid from Egypt, he tends to upstage him by literally stealing the moon for himself. He goes to the Bank of Evil and asks for a loan, but Mr Perkins (Will Arnett), father of Vector is dissatisfied knowing that he doesn’t have the shrink ray to pull off the scheme, only promising to talk if he has the said ray. Gru does succeed in taking it from a secret research base, only to be intercepted and have it stolen from Vector himself. He tries taking it from Vector, but fails after many attempts. His last scheme arises when he adopts three orphan girls that are able to enter his rival’s home by selling cookies. The girls are named: Margot, Edith and Agnes. At first, he shows no interest in them after he gets what he wants, but he gets used to them after enjoying their time together at a theme park. Despite having the shrink ray, Mr. Perkins refuses to give the loan. Knowing that he won’t be funded, he decides to build his own rocket to the moon, with the same help of Nefario and the minions. When the scheduled day for stealing the moon is conveniently on the same day of the girls’ dance recital, Gru considers delaying the heist. Bothered that his boss is distracted, he decides to return the girls behind his back, making them believe he never grew to like them. Gru does succeed in stealing the moon, but tries getting to the recital as he promised the girls. Although he gets there late, Vector leaves behind a ransom note revealing that he kidnapped all three and promises to let them go in exchange for the now small moon. Gru does surrender the moon, only to realize his rival was lying. As he tries to infiltrate the house, Vector flees with the kids in an aircraft. He tries to sneak onto the ship, but falls until being rescued by Nefario. He chooses so to warn him that the moon will grow back because the larger the mass of an object, the quicker the effect wears off. Just upon sharing the discovery, the moon grows back in the air. Luckily, Gru, Nefario & the minions are able to rescue the girls just before the moon is at normal size and launched back into orbit, stranding Vector. With the moon restored, the film ends with Gru reclaiming custody of the girls and celebrating with a special recital.
THOUGHTS
I was pretty lucky to check this out in theaters, especially since that year was infamously stacked with now animated classics (Toy Story 3, Tangled and How to Train Your Dragon). And in all honesty, this one deserves that respect as well. Of course the animation is well crafted, making every character appear as intriguing as one another, whether or not there is simplicity beneath it all. And the majority of the jokes land thanks to the adorable minions, where each of them were impressively played by co director Pierre Coffin. The reason that these characters have been so entertaining and remain hilarious throughout the eventual franchise because within their given time, they represent the gift of loyalty, as they only create a stronger bond with their boss as time progresses. These creatures are only concerned with satisfying others and selflessness behind that is just sweet. Aside from those scene stealers, the rest of the film's heart comes from how Coffin and Chris Renaud teaches viewers to always try to do better. We are not perfect people, but that doesn't mean we can stop ourselves in attempts to improve. We easily catch on to this in the perspective of Gru. Steve Carell portrays this character as a protagonist unlike anything the animated genre had ever seen at that point. His cold heart comes from the neglect his mother Marlena gave him throughout his life. And you add that with the absence of a father, it is bound to create a stereotypical villain who enjoys spreading chaos. He may have had a selfish use with the kids, but he came around enjoying their presence because he saw that they wanted the love he couldn't get. And seeing him give that to them felt poetic because it shows that trauma does not need to be passed on. So as for Marlena, she is far from the best mom since she shows little interest in Gru, but I gotta admit that casualness coming from Julie Andrews' voice is so unexpected, you can't help cracking up to it. When you get a movie involving kids, all you want for them is to get through the story on a high note. So of course I was rooting for the trio of foster sisters that were the most innocent of characters throughout. Elsie FIsher showed the young Agnes to be naive, but always curious and easygoing as she makes every moment an adventure. All of those features made her hilarious because it's all to cute to see at the same time. It's hard to not like a kid that excites over getting a new toy. "It's so fluffy" is still in my head in the best way. Dana Gaier makes Edith the tomboy of the trio who doesn't overthink things and goes with the flow, hence not being as scared of the dangers that come her way. And Miranda Cosgrove plays the eldest Margot as the most sensitive, which is easily understood as she refuses to have her heart broken. Of course she was open minded entering Gru's room, but she took a while accepting him in general because she was unaware he wasn't the most loving. However, he was there when she needed him most and that was enough for her to accept him as a father. Russell Brand makes Nefario the most neutral character because he is a loyal friend to Gru who only wants him to take advantage of his opportunities. Since they're originally villains, that means to be the most diabolical with their schemes. Of course it was upsetting for him to return the girls, but it's not surprising since he knew he didn't need them anymore. He didn't interfere with the relationship between them after Vector was dealt with because he eventually understood how much the kids meant to his friend and he never intended to hurt him. It is wise for the kids to not know what he did because it would've made things complicated. In this story, the true villain is Vector and Jason Segel makes clear of it. This is a guy who is mostly intelligent for making bizarre weapons, he spends most of the time being overly confident and super arrogant since his opportunities are handed to him by his own father. You hate him like Gru does because he does not work as hard as him, so you don't feel any sympathy when he gets stuck on the moon. I won't even get my hopes up on him being dead because anything is possible in this genre. I give this film a lot of credit, but even this one had its that bothered me whenever I chose to re watch. So it is badass that Vector is the one that stole the pyramid, but it’s odd that the only one people would’ve known is if the plastic replica was noticed. I don’t think there is a point to it when this franchise’s villains is all about showing how powerful they are. And am I the only one worried that there many kids unsupervised throughout this movie? It ain’t just the girls, there were two different boys in between who lose balloons thanks to Gru. Their parents are probably just as bad as his if they ain’t watching them during this shenanigans. I also wonder how come no villain like Gru is inconspicuous in this franchise since he has the biggest house and drives in a giant vehicle, crashing other cars intentionally, and vandalize a theme park, as well as flying a ship into space from his house. It’s hard to not get caught if you’re not living under serene seclusion. The minions are indeed cute when they’re gullible, but it’s pretty ridiculous that they forgot they stole replicas of Lady Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. Gru is definitely a smart guy for being able to retrieve the shrink ray twice, but it’s pretty dumb of him to not get it before asking for the loan. It’s pretty obvious has he got it way before asking for it, he’d be in the clear and would’ve not had his rivalry against Vector. I was even shook that he would risk destroying the ray when shooting missiles at Vector. And I like that he overcomes the odds, but it’s odd how suppresses a lot of pain and doesn’t have permanent injuries. It’s not like he’s related to the minions. If he’s taking drugs from Nefario, that should be clear. Also, how did he know the girls’ names? They didn’t say their names at all when they were outside Vector’s home? If he did a background check on his way to the orphanage, then again, that’s gotta be clear. I don’t even see the point of him to keep a charade to the kids of what he does for a living since they’re more concerned of being orphan free. It is funny when the minions write his fake resume at the orphanage, but it’s such a risk because Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig) should’ve noticed it was adding up oddly. And hey, Margot is pretty smart, but I don’t think she believes the minions are Gru’s cousins. Also, how are she and the girls allowed to attend a dance class? It is good for kids to be active, but I don’t think Miss Hattie would be that flexible for them since she’s strict about selling cookies. I know we need a reason for Vector to pursue the girls, but I don’t think his reason is valid due to a massive continuity error. Mr Perkins did record the meeting and saw Edith, but that’s it. He did not see Agnes or Margot at all, so that was a weak way to get everything align. Lastly, am I the only one wondering how Gru won back custody of the girls when Nefario made him return them? I don’t think that part should’ve been skipped. That could’ve led to another funny minion scene. However, once you ignore this stuff, you’ll still be in for a good time. In short, Despicable Me is one of the best animated movies of the 2010s for knowing how to find everyone’s funny bone with its heart. If you want to sit back and laugh, this one’ll do it for you.
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