FILM: Despicable Me

Directors: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Miranda Cosgrove

4 out of 5

This is a 3D animated family film done really well. There’s loads of laughs to be had, it’s cute as can be in places, and the story is great. It’s about a supervillain named Gru who wants to steal the moon. He has to compete with a smarmy young upstart named Vector - the new baddie on the block - who causes him no end of frustration. Gru has an army of expendable minions that do his work; small yellow creatures who talk and act funny, and cause a lot of the movie’s laughs. But when he adopts three extremely cute orphan girls - only for their usefulness in his dastardly scheme - they manage to melt his frozen heart. The lead cast do a fantastic job of voice acting the main characters, employing wonderful comic timing despite it being in animated form. There are also some minor characters, voiced by some of my favourite people in comedy right now: Danny McBride, Jemaine Clement and Ken Jeong. It’s a very kids-friendly film, but adults will laugh just as much as the little ones, and the kiddy elements never get too annoying. The 3D is used really well - the whole way through it just adds an extra layer to your viewing experience. Then, right at the very end, they do the whole ‘point something out of the screen at your face thing’ to a ridiculous level. It’s a nice end to a highly entertaining but not overly memorable movie.

Read this film review plus loads more in the August/September 2010 issue of Rip It Up Magazine. Review by Daniel Rutledge