THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Illumination took that too serious and let things play out way too much when making Despicable Me 3.
PLOT
The 2017 film follows former villain turned AVL agent Felonius Gru have a new chapter in life with his wife Lucy Wilde. They are shockingly fired by the agency’s new director Valerie da Vinci (Jenny Slate), for failing to capture Balthazar Bratt, a former child star of the series ‘Evil Bratt’ who was fired from said series after a sudden growth spurt. With Gru refusing to become a villain and with the fact of Dr. Nefario accidentally freezing himself in carbonite, most of the minions decide to abandon him to find new work of their old ways. That would backfire on their end as they’d land in jail for accidentally crashing into a television studio. The only minions who unknowingly get left behind with Gru are Dave & Jerry. The following day, Gru finds out he has a long lost brother named Dru who invites him to the distant country of Freedonia. Confirmed by his mother Marlena (Julie Andrews), she broke up with their father after they were born and took one child for themselves. So, Gru & Lucy take the children (Margo [Miranda Cosgrove], Edith [Dana Gaier] & Agnes [Nev Scharrel]) & the minions with them to Freedonia and meet the distant relative. In person, Dru reveals that their father was a popular villain called the ‘Bald Terror’ who not only made it a family business but also used a pig farm as his front. Dru wants to continue the legacy with his brother and considers doing so after joyriding all over town. Gru would in fact suggest taking the Dumont Diamond from Bratt. They would actually succeed in doing so despite being caught by the opposing villain but when the sibling duo get rescued by Lucy, Gru admits he’ll use the diamond to convince Valerie to rehire them. This revelation would disappoint Dru as he felt used for his own gain. Confronting him only leads to his brother calling out his incompetence, resulting in him wanting to leave Freedonia. Bratt gets even with Gru by kidnapping his children and taking back the diamond for his own plan: He wants to use the diamond to power use the laser of his giant robot to destroy Hollywood and use his super powered bubble gum to lift the city into outer space. Knowing what Bratt is up to, Gru puts his differences with his brother and agree to save the world with Lucy. Wilde is able to save the girls while Gru defeats Bratt via dance fight and Dru crashes into the robot to power it down. The rest of the minions having escaped jail to reunite with Gru, are able to pop the bubbles surrounding the city and the whole Gru family reconcile. Some time later, Gru & Lucy get rehired as AVL agents with Bratt apprehended but the film ends with most of the minions aligning with Dru to engage in villainy again.
THOUGHTS
The best way to discuss this film is through Pros and Cons
PROS: Illumination officially encapsulated their equivalent of Pixar's Toy Story because Despicable Me has become a profitable franchise that audiences will tune in no matter the quality. With this film and the first Minions spin-off surpassing a billion dollars each at the box office, it’s a given it’ll stick around longer than people will anticipate. I didn’t have any legit expectations for this sequel because I only wanted to have fun in the summer. I think I got just that and then some because the directing team of Eric Guillon, Pierre Coffin & Kyle Balda nail it in making an animated blast. The visuals are of course dazzling when looking at the new & returning environments and the blend of characters are still all so intriguing. We get our fair share of laughs when Coffin and Chris Renaud returning to voice all minions who get into shenanigans that may be illogical yet still hilarious. You know a character's gone through a hectic day if they went to jail after crashing a studio recording. And seeing them take over that same prison before eventually break out overnight was quite hysterical to witness. While those yellow figures give most of the laughs, this one becomes worthwhile for showing a creative spin on maintaining morals after being proud of the changes that improved your life. This is the pickle that Gru goes through because although he's grateful to have a brother in his life, he's not gonna go to his old ways to satisfy him. Steve Carell definitely pushed the boundaries in his voice acting for playing the cynical protagonist and also the polar opposite that is the cheerful Dru, where the bigger difference apart from having hair was having a higher pitched voice. Dru has his own attachment to the past where villainy is all he knows and knew he'd get the best guidance from his brother, but felt rightfully betrayed when Gru kept him under the loops. Although doing good wasn't his specialty, he handled improvisation very well when it came to aiding his brother in the climactic fight. It is a win win for Dru and the minions to align because they don't have to change their ways to be happy. It's not that I condone villainy but since the world was filled with nothing but villains before Gru changed his ways, I don't blame them for not giving heroism a proper chance. Kristen Wiig still gets time to shine as Lucy because besides being the enthusiastic spouse, she's figuring out her place as a parent as she's barely working out the kinks on building a relationship with all three girls. Little by little, she proves it by showing her heart when it's being encouraging or protective. In the end, the girls are lucky to have her around in their lives the way they are with Gru. And with villainy being the theme, we had to get another antagonist that would push boundaries and it's safe to say Bratt did so because I can remember him for the right reasons. After spending decades as a major player to South Park, Trey Parker changes the scenery in playing the most flamboyant character in his career. He has the right to feel rejected by society when it was going through puberty that causes executives to cancel his own show rather than embrace as an adult. Having said that, the rejection only led to him being a pure megalomaniac. And like the previous villains, he tries to go extravagant with his scheme only to let it blow up in his face like the bubbles he weaponized.
CONS: While I was smiling throughout, there were so many things that bothered me and prevented this film from being better. At one point, it felt just too loose to follow because so many plot lines where you're not even sure if you're supposed to care for them all. I mean should I care about Agnes finding a unicorn and Margo getting crushed on by another boy? Not really. I should be locked in when focusing on the minions since they're the scene stealers, but they don't feel properly paced compared to how we follow the protagonist. With that being said, there are a bunch of moments that irritated me deeply. For example, why would the producers film Bratt's growth spurt on the spot when they know how awkward that'd be for him? In an era where heroes didn't exist, they were asking for another villain to fuck shit up. I even feel like Bratt should've been caught off of his speedboat alone because those things are not silent. Also, it's a big takeaway for the AVL to have transport open from the roof instead of just doing a transport tunnel or portals. Another design flaw has to be how the girls share a bedroom, but now are stacked up by bunkbeds instead of being spread around the room like in Gru's room. I know the joke is for Gru to fall, but it wouldn't be a joke if it were the girls. And I don't even understand why the hell were Grucy the only ones to try apprehending Bratt when Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan) said he wanted every agent on the scene? If he's AVL's most wanted, this should not have been possible. I also don't think Gru should not worry about getting a job when he was already in advance, so this is pointless. And why does it take til this film for Gru to speak Minionese when he never needed to before? Another pointless moment when you think about it. On top of that, I don't see why it took so long for the minions to quit when they had an opportunity long before El Macho. Bratt was smart to dawn a disguise to take the diamond, but how come the diamond didn't have a test conducted of its purity before it even got there. I mean that should've been the first thing done after AVL returned it. I also think he ruins the idea of covering his tracks during his escape when he escapes out the window instead of the front door. I don't blame him for going flashy, but he could've done it after he left the building. Another thing, I don't see a reason for Dru to take so long contacting his brother. Just because of being separated, he didn't need his father's permission to meet him. On top of that, if their dad was an iconic villain before their time, Gru should've known about it by at least AVL of all people. And why was Lucy not with the girls when going for their unicorn search? If she was so overprotective before, I don't see a reason for her to stop now. I also think Gru's plan to get the diamond is faulty because he got fired for failing to capture Bratt. Now I can believe Bratt can outsmart Gru by disguising himself as Lucy, but how'd he do it so fast? If the whole point was to take the diamond back, he could've revealed the ruse the second he picked him up. He definitely had the jump when tying up Lucy, but the timespan for him to do that, tricking the brothers and abduct the girls is uncanny especially if his island is in the middle of the ocean. The same can be said on how Gru & company go from Freedonia to Hollywood in time to save the girls and stop Bratt. Lastly, how did it go for Grucy to get their jobs back after Bratt got stopped? It would've not hurt to see how Jenny chose to respect them for redeeming themselves. In conclusion, Despicable Me 3 hits the checkmarks in being an entertaining animated adventure when ignoring all said flaws. If you love slapstick animation, this is worth your while.
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