Movie Review: Despicable Me 3

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Laughs and fun

Cons: Sub-plots feel tacked on

The Bottom Line:

Gru, Minions are back

Sub-plots distract from story

Still fun overall

A Bit Busy, but Mostly Fun

I’ve been surprised at just how charming the Despicable Me movies have turned out to be, so I was looking forward to catch up with Gru and the rest of the gang in Despicable Me 3.  This movie suffered from a few too many storylines, but overall, it was still enjoyable.

The movie opens as Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and his new wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) are on their latest mission for the Anti-Villain League.  Their target is Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), a former childhood actor who turned to villainy when his show was canceled.  However, things quickly go wrong, and Gru and Lucy both wind up fired.

While Gru is still processing this bit of news, he gets the surprise of his life – he has a twin brother named Dru (also Steve Carell).  Dru wants to start on a life of crime, and he hopes to team up with Gru to do it.  Will Gru return to villainy?

This story alone would be enough to carry the movie, and it is a great plot.  I figured out where they were going with it fairly early on, but I didn’t care because watching them get there was a lot of fun.

But the problem is they decided to water things down with several sub-plots.  Admittedly, these sub-plots allow some of the other characters to shine, but they feel like they are there more as padding than as part of the film.  True, two of the sub-plots, Lucy’s attempts to be a good mother to the three girls and the majority of the minions striking out on their own, both factor into the main plot’s climax, so it’s only Agnes’ hunt for a real live unicorn that really doesn’t come into play at the end.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the characters, but I feel like they could have been worked into the main plot better.

Now this isn’t to say that the movie isn’t entertaining.  I laughed quite a bit and smiled even more.  The film entertains, which is the entire point, right?

Like with the other movies in the franchise, the animation is very stylized.  It isn’t going for the hyper realistic look of other animated movies, but it certainly works for these movies.

And the voice cast continues to be wonderful.  They bring their characters to life in such a way that you get caught up in the story.

My issues with the plot aside, Despicable Me 3 will entertain fans of the franchise.  If you are one of them, you’ll definitely want to check this movie out.