Despicable Me

Despicable Me completely took me by surprise. It just wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Universal Studio's latest animated feature presented itself as something of a poor man's The Incredibles, featuring a master villain who does horribly awful things like stealing the Egyptian pyramids and replacing it with a balloon version. Thats' not what it is at all. It's Mr. Mom. Er, it's Mr. Mom if he was a supervillain. Despicable Me is a completely original idea, one that blindsided me with its smart, decidedly adult brand of humor. It's also one of the very few movies this year that makes good use of the 3-D technology. I guess Pixar and Dreamworks aren't the only games in town afterall.

Ok, maybe they are, but Universal takes a pretty big swing at the top spot. Utilizing the voice talents of Steve Carell, Despicable Me is the story of Gru, a master criminal who looks like Uncle Fester with the nose of Adrien Brody. He's built his career off petty crimes, such as stealing the Statue of Liberty...um, the tiny one in Las Vegas. He also stole the Eiffel Tower....um, the tiny one in Las Vegas. His career is at a standstill, but he's got a plan that could put him on the front page of every newspaper on the planet. He wants to steal the moon. Not the tiny one. The real one. To do that, Gru and his army of cute little yellow minions need to steal a shrinking ray from the new upstart villain in town, Vector(Jason Segel). Imagine the biggest nerd you could ever imagine, then imagine him with delusions of cosmic grandeur, then multiply it times ten and you've got Vector in a nutshell. Their rivalry devolves into a riotous game of cat and mouse, or perhaps Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner is a better description.

Gru sees an opportunity to sneak into Vector's headquarters by using three adorably precocious orphan girls, each cuter than the next, to gain access by selling Girl Scout cookies. Gru's plan? Adopt the girls, then when they go to give Vector his treats, Gru can get in and snag the shrink ray. Things of course don't go quite as planned, and we can see Gru's supposedly cold heart melting from a mile away. It's to screenwriter Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul's credit that they manage to make a character worth cheering for out of a supervillain. That's always a tough sell, but by presenting his arch-nemesis as such a gutless geek, it makes Gru seem like a teddy bear by comparison.

Thankfully, they don't go overboard in over sentimentalizing Gru's transformation. He stays pretty much the same throughout, except for the way he treats the girls. He's still got serious self confidence issues, thanks to a Mom(voiced by Julie Andrews) who thinks her son is an extreme disappointment. He's still got his plans for the moon, the real life ramifications of which are thankfully glossed over. When his new life as a father begin to intercede on his plans for world domination, Gru is forced to make a fateful decision. He's going to disappointment somebody, either the girls or his loyal crew of henchman, notably the evil Dr. Lothario(voiced by Russell Brand).

Despicable Me gets off to a slow start, as it tries hard to establish Gru as an evil trickster, delighting in inflicting pain and disappointment on others. His schemes are more annoying than anything else, and most of the early jokes fall flat and feel stale. It kicks into high gear when Gru enters his suburban neighborhood, with all the houses that look alike except for his clearly ominious home. His minion are the comedic highlight, and are the one aspect that I would say appeals to children, as they punch and kick eachother in Three Stooges style. The humor in the film is far more adult than I ever would've anticipated. How many kids are going o get a joke about Lehman Brothers? There's also a fair amount of toilet humor, which might turn some off but is mostly harmless. It's not usually my cup of tea, but something in the delightful story put me in the right mood for it.

All year, I've been bemoaning the use of 3-D, a wasted technique employed haphazardly to wring more dollars out of unsuspecting moviegoers pockets. Universal has found a way to use 3-D in a fun manner without going overboard, employing it in rare instances to add depth. When it's noticable, it works really well, to the point where a little girl next to me reached out her hand to touch the screen. Awww, how cute. The closing credit sequence alone, a site gag that relies on your use of the 3-D glasses, is like a refreshing comedy dessert for the kiddies.

While not as memorable as Toy Story 3, or as much of a thrillride as How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me sets itself apart with a wildly imaginative concept and brilliantly funny script once it hits its stride. Who needs another superhero movie? Sometimes it's good to be bad.