DESPICABLE ME 3 review


DESPICABLE ME 3

starring Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig and Trey Parker

directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin

A review by Helen J. Reynolds


The minions have flooded bakeries, filled balloons, oversized Halloween outfits and even have their own standalone movie, so it's no surprise Despicable Me brings out a third film. This time Gru's (Steve Carell) extended family adds one more as he discovers he has a twin brother, Dru (the plot twist of any aging franchise).

The opening is a combination of all the teaser trailers that have been circulating, so you may have seen all the jokes already – Gru in a Borat mankini, a vacuum turned rocket and an 80s villain (cue excellent soundtrack). The problem with a good opening, however, is that the rest of the movie falls pretty flat in comparison.

The minions have little to do in this movie, not a bad thing as the Minion movie certainly shows you can have too much of a good thing. Standout scenes include life behind bars - though despite the heavy advertisement of minions in prison uniform it has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. There's also a memorable song accompanied with pink loo roll that I could watch happily on repeat. When they get it right, they get it right.

Parents might enjoy the 80s theme as evil villain Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) gives a blast to the past in bad haircuts, big shoulder-pads and rubik cubes. His robot sidekick, however, is a gimmick best remaining in the past as it brings absolutely nothing to the film.
You also wonder if the scriptwriters dropped a plot from an earlier draft. When Gru and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) are fired by a new lady boss in the Anti-Villain League, the fuss that's made in revealing this new character makes you suspect something else is going on. Learning she's only in the movie for that introduction scene wastes her character and potential plot twist.

Dru likewise doesn't offer too much. He turns from the golden child to peeing in his pants pretty fast. The fact that he wants to do a heist with Gru (steal back world's largest diamond from Balthazar) feels out of place to his character. It also reveals a bit of a plot hole: Gru gets the diamond in the opening, but is fired for not capturing Balthazar so it seems pointless that his aim to get his job back is to re-steal the diamond, rather than capturing Balthazar.

Overall, there isn't much going on in this movie. At this point, Gru has had all the development he really needs and it's a shame they didn’t focus on Lucy instead, who actually had an issue to work through as she tries to get a handle on being mother to Gru’s three kids. The girls have some interest in the movie (unicorns to find, boys proposing etc.) and would have given the focus that the previous Despicable Me movies had, if Lucy had taken the lead. Instead, she just saves the day.  

A combination of:
Minions (2015)
Despicable Me 2 (2013)
Megamind (2010)

Comments

  1. diego7820 February 2019 at 03:15

    If you just want a great movie time with your family then I believe that this movie is just prefect. I am sure that it is not the last part of this series. More should come! Well, we also like to watch movies on our home theater and recently the shows by Andy Yeatman are our recent favorite.

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