Movie Review: Despicable Me

Synopsis: When a criminal mastermind (voiced by Steve Carell) uses a trio of orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme, he finds himself profoundly changed by the growing love between them.

I think the biggest compliment you can give a non-Pixar animated film these days is that it reminded you of a Pixar film... and this one does just that. It's got a very nice plot, oozes sentimentality, has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and slapstick humor, looks fantastic and is very clever. Oh, and it's just as cute as it can be between the girls and the minions. The minions could have their own full-length movie as far as I'm concerned and I'd pay to see it (they actually star in 3 shorts on the Blu-ray). I'd love to have my own minions as a matter of fact, to do my bidding. Maybe not evil bidding but I could use them for trips to the store of just around the house.

It's also got a bit of a more serious side, of modern day families and orphans, yet it never gets too heavy. That's sort of true for the entire movie. Just when you think Gru is so dispicable you start to really dislike him, he does something to lighten things. When you think for a brief moment a girl got squished in an iron maiden torture device, she immediatly says something cute and it's forgotten. It's just got a nice balance between humor, heart and fun.

It's rated PG so it's plenty safe for the kids but adults should be entertained as well and just maybe have their heart strings tugged a bit. It's also quite creative with some neat weapons and inventions such as piranha gun, cookie robots, shrink rays, freeze rays and crazy vehicles.

If this is what sort of quality we can expect from Illumination Entertainment then I can't wait for their next film. The visit to the amusement park alone should have anyone who sees this drooling for more. I got sick just watching the roller coaster scene. Bravo.

8/10