Despicable Me

As a reviewer mentioned, this year is set to be a great year of animated films, much like the previous two years. This is proved with Pixar's unmatched (touching wood) winning streak and Dreamworks' surprise turn "How To Train Your Dragon", which proceeds to continue the ever- increasing "golden years" of computer-animated films. Universal's "Despicable Me" is yet another gem in an already quite-heavy bag of diamonds.

With nice direction, the filmmakers were able to combine two quite unoriginal plots into one with ease and without force, and they managed to add wit, charm and smart humor to it as well. Not to mention heart. I have never heard of the filmmakers before, but this is a heck of a debut from two first-time animated film directors. The humor is also not too over the top, yet utterly hilarious and ingenious when they pop up. Most of the jokes had the entire audience rolling in the aisles. The three girls end up being adorable and lovable characters, as per the main character/protagonist/villain, whom you can't help but cheer on and care for, no matter what he does. Steve Carell is spot-on as Gru and he makes the role funnier than it should be, I mean his voice and humorous style is there behind the funny accent. And what Gru plots and does is beyond ridiculous and far too funny to be deemed "serious" by any cynic. Some hilarious supporting characters round out the primary cast, most notably Gru's assistant Dr. Nefarious played by Russell Brand, and I could not believe Julie Andrews was Gru's mother, I hardly recognized her voice at all! Jason Segel was hilarious as Gru's vain nemesis Vector. And let's not forget the utterly adorable and hilarious minions and their wacky antics.

Technical wise, the animation is gorgeous, bright and nicely rendered with a deft touch of simplicity to it, causing it to be not too overly glossy and polished. This makes the animation look less artificial and more fluid, and this especially shows when it comes to the practical jokes. The music score is just wonderful and suits the moods of the film as they come along. The 3D is great and used quite a number of times in the movie during many effect-driven scenes, which is very impressive considering the poor up-conversion to 3D of MANY movies of late.

Overall, this animated film is a great fun time for the kids and family to see, and even some teens will get many laughs out of it as well. This is a very adorable film, full of charm and heart, and with a funny and lighthearted storyline, and may the powers that be reward this at the box office, if the mediocre "Eclipse" isn't taking all of its viewers already. Looks like Universal's animation days are returning.

Entertainment value: 10/10

Overall: 7.5/10

Since Toy Story 3 is in theatres, it's rather knee-jerk to compare Despicable Me to the animation giant. But you shouldn't. Despicable Me doesn't have the heavy, dark tones of the final Toy Story and, therefore, is probably better suited to smaller children. As with the best family films, though, adults will love this story as much - if not more - than their little ones.

And here's why. It is incredibly rare to see a single dad portrayed in such a positive light. While Gru has an admittedly "bad" vocation, there are unbelievably sweet moments between him and the three children, probably aided by the juxtaposition of tiny girls to a large, "bad" guy.

The nepotistic supporting cast from Saturday Night Live (even Jack McBrayer works for Tina Fey) is fantastic. One pleasant surprise was from Gru's minions: they did not steal the show. Not that they should've- the little yellow guys were funny and entertaining, but one would expect from the previews they would ultimately be the best part of the film... and I'm happy to report that wasn't true.

Despicable Me is LOL funny throughout, warm, goofy, and will not disappoint. I'd say you're a despicable parent if you don't take your kids to see it immediately.

Despicable me is Simply Hilarious. This Movie is not just for kids, Adults are going to enjoy it even more. The youngest girl in it is sooooooo cute. Also the Small yellow minions simply adorable and so funny. The entire hall was laughing through out the movie.

The plot is very interesting to keep you engrossed throughout the movie.It is not a very original plot but has the very humorous dialogs and acts.

Steve Carell's is SIMPLY amazing, he is funny in a very different way...he is the king of the awkward embarrassing insulting type of comedy. You can't help but remember Steve carell's during some of the dialog deliveries.

One of the funniest animation movie. Definitely Worth Watching twice.

I love this movie! It was so adorable, so charming & the writing was absolutely terrific! I love the animation & the characters (including the minions) were all fantastic! A MUST WATCH!

Gru (Steve Carell) is a horrible villain. Horrible as in he's not that good at it. He's petty. And when he is overtaken by another villain, he finds that he's not up to taking on Vector (Jason Segel). When he couldn't break into Vector's home, he notice 3 orphans selling cookies got in. So what's a respectable villain's suppose to do? Adopt them of course as part of an evil plan.

Gru is a weird character to like, and it's not that much fun to watch at first. His minions help a lot. Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) is also good. But it's the 3 orphans causing all kinds of problem that makes it all alright. It's pretty good animation work. And there's a good story of how a bad guy learn to love. It has its funny moments and it has the minions.