ANIMATION; 1hr 35min
VOICES BY: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews
Moon-struck: Gru and Minions
Steve Carell is the voice of light-fingered suburban megalomaniac Gru in the gadget-crazy Despicable Me but you’d never know it with his Euro-dizzy accent. Barrel-bodied, spindle-shanked and chrome-domed, what Gru lacks in physical charm — everything — he compensates for with hard-wired ambition. His latest fixation is to steal the moon. But first he and his chittering yellow Minions need to get their hands on the Shrink Ray of Gru’s geeky rival villain Vector (Segel). Enter Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher), adopted pawns in Gru’s grand plan.
The concept is button-cute kooky. And while it isn’t big on big laughs, the pep of Carell and Co and the Aw Shucks angle as Gru grows into fatherhood round out the tall tale. What’s not to like about a supercool title song by Pharrell Williams, fireball Brand as Gru’s erratic assistant Dr Nefario and grande dame Andrews as his crushingly indifferent mother? (No wonder the Despicable one has a self-esteem situation.) Besides which, there’s the prospect of actually shrinking the moon. Who wouldn’t want to hang in for that?
