Despicable Me
Released: 9th Sep
Length: 95 Minutes
Classification: PG (Mild Animated Violence)
The Despicable Me screening I attended was at the crack of dawn at 10:30 in the morning. This time would have been fine except for the fact that I had been socialising the night before and had slightly overdone it. I turned up to the screening to be met by hundreds of children making the customary loud noise thing that they do and throwing random junk at each other. I wasn’t sure how I was going to hold up with my head hurting, the children yelling and the prospect of wearing 3D glasses making my delicate stomach turn. However I got my popcorn and coke (I know it was the morning but shutup) and slumped into my chair with the free Ben10 pencil case on it (oh boy!) and got ready to see what I expected to be just another cartoon. Consider myself schooled.
Despicable Me not only exceeded all of my expectations but I can’t wait to see it again. Steve Carell stars as Gru, the worlds leading evil mastermind who gets upstaged by an evil newcomer, Vector (Jason Segal). Gru must prove his worth by pulling off the greatest heist out of this world – he must steal the moon. First Gru has to obtain a shrink ray, however his nemesis Vector foils this plans and pulls the old switcheroo. Now Gru has a problem, without the shrink ray he cannot get funding from his evil bank. His answer; adopt three young orphans – Margo, Edith and Agnes – to exploit Vector’s Achilles heel and sell him cookies. But what happens when Gru must give up the girls? Will he forfeit his chance at evil superstardom? You can probably guess but that doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy this film.
Despicable Me has something for everyone. It is loaded with laughs for the kids (and lets admit it, we laugh at them too) and also has an added layer of jokes just for adults, my particular favourite being homage to The Godfather. Make sure you go to a 3D session so that you get the full effect of the roller coaster sequence (although be warned if you are hung over). The only thing that jarred with me was the music by Pharrell Williams. Don’t get me wrong, the music is fantastic, very grand and menacing for the most part but you need to settle into the occasional hip-hop song conspicuously mixed in. In addition to being well scripted the direction is entertaining by relative newcomer Pierre Coffin who worked as a story artist on Ice Age 2 and Horton Hears A Who! The animation is also dazzling with a bizarre mix of Tim Burton characteristics and Pixar’s The Incredibles stylisation.
All in all I would recommend Despicable Me to pretty much anyone, even my dad. Hopefully you will come out of the screening like me, clutching your free Ben10 pencil case with a big grin on your face and a happy feeling on the inside (no thanks to the hangover/popcorn combination).
High Distinction
Ryland Summers
