Most computer-animated movies released in 3-D these days, including “Toy Story 3,” aren’t worth seeing in the format. “Despicable Me” is one of the happy exceptions.
The filmmakers, led by directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, look for sequences such as aerial battles to dazzle the audience with that extra dimension. Because “Despicable Me” spoofs action movies, the filmmakers find many opportunities to incorporate visual razzmatazz into the plot, but even the moments superfluous to the story (such as the roller coaster ride) are forgivable because they’re such a blast.
“Despicable Me” stars Gru (voiced by Steve Carell with a Slavic accent), a super villain in a world free of those pesky superheroes. The only beings who might bedevil Gru are other super villains, but he has always stayed atop the pack.
That is until a young upstart who calls himself Vector (Jason Segel) stuns the world by stealing the Great Pyramid of Cheops, eclipsing Gru’s great crime of stealing the Statue of Liberty (“The small one,” Gru explains, “from Las Vegas”). To outdo Vector and reclaim his title as world’s worst villain, Gru decides to steal (Bomp! Bomp! Bom!) the moon.
Along with the animators, screenwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul (“Horton Hears a Who”) draw inspiration from classic strip cartoons rooted in black humor. A sequence of quick gags showing Gru foiled by the defenses of Vector’s fortress plays like a clip reel from Mad magazine’s “Spy Vs. Spy.”
Clearly, the strongest influence on “Despicable Me” is Charles Addams, whose cartoons inspired “The Addams Family” TV show and movies. Bald and with dark rings beneath his beady eyes, Gru resembles Uncle Fester (except with the Penguin’s nose). The Addams look extends to Gru’s home, both exterior (the sole black, scary house in a white-picket neighborhood) and interior (the décor mixes jungle creatures and torture devices, including an iron maiden).
At the outset, the writers rely on Addams’ tactic of subtle malevolence (and a bit of wish-fulfillment) invading mundane, middle-class life. Gru zaps customers with his freeze ray to cut to the head of the line at the coffee shop.
But like Uncle Fester from the TV show, Gru is a softie beneath his black, forbidding wardrobe. He is actually a decent boss to his resident evil scientist, Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), and army of minions. These minions are odd, knee-high creatures who resemble pieces of macaroni wearing safety goggles and overalls. They speak in gibberish and are an endless source of sight gags, whether cross-dressing to bouncing on a Wii Fit platform.
Gru puts his wicked reputation at risk when he adopts three adorable sisters, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove, start of TV’s “iCarly”), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher). Gru plots to use the sisters to take advantage of Vector’s weakness for Girl Scout cookies. But even as the girls complicate his schemes with their demands of ballet recitals and bedtime stories, the lure of parenthood starts to tug Gru away from dreams of world domination.
The outcome is easy to guess (if the Grinch comes undone with one Cindy Lou Who, how can Gru withstand three adorable moppets?) but while the plot may be predictable, the jokes seldom are. “Despicable Me” is a very funny movie, fueled by sardonic dialogue, snappy slapstick and inventive production and character design. Vector looks like an emaciated Dr. Octopus sporting a garish orange warm-up suit and fanny pack.
Carell does a marvelous job allowing empathy to seep in beneath his silly accent. Cosgrove’s performance also helps to ground the movie’s absurdism in genuine emotion. The vocal cast is admirable overall, though the producers could have extended their range beyond the Judd Apatow/“Saturday Night Live” Veterans Association. Instead of hiring Danny McBride to deliver five lines as Gru’s neighbor, why not throw some work the way of one of Hollywood’s professional voice artists?
“Despicable Me” is the first feature from French animation studio Illumination Entertainment. Right off, the studio puts itself on par with Blue Sky Studios, maker of the “Ice Age” series. The world they create in “Despicable Me” is bright and delightful, and the animators fearlessly embrace the hucksterism that has always been built in to the 3-D format.
The stop-motion “Coraline” is the most beautiful 3-D animated film, and “How to Train Your Dragon” is the most exhilarating, but “Despicable Me” is the most hilarious. Its zaniest sequence comes during the closing credits, when minions challenge each other to reach farther into the audience using such 3-D staples as tape measures, ladders and paddleballs.
At the screening I attended, children reached over the theater seats to high-five the hands extending from the screen. Now that’s 3-D worth the extra $3 ticket price.
'Despicable Me'
Three and a half stars out of four
Rated PG for rude humor and mild action
Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes