Despicable Me [Blu-ray] [2010] [US Import]

I loved this movie and my 10 y.o. daughter loved it even more. It is so good, that I hardly know where to begin - so I tried to put the whole review in four points, mentioned in the title:

1. Hilarity - IT IS HILARIOUS! REALLY! There is hardly any 15 seconds in this movie that would not contain a really good gag, children or/and adult oriented. Whoever wrote the scenario was a genius!

2. Despicability - the main character, Gru, is really a delight to watch: ugly, grumpy, mean, petty, vengeful, scheming, permanently aggravated and wholeheartedly devoted to the cause of evil - and in the same time incredibly insecure, convinced deep in his heart that he is a looser and haunted by the every day stronger feeling of the impending doom, for him and his evil army. I believe also that even his name is a kind of evil double entendre: it is obviously an abbreviation of "gruesome" but GRU was also, during the Cold War, the name of Soviet Army military intelligence, in charge particularly of assassinations abroad. In some James Bond movies GRU appeared under the name of Smertch. It gives a particular flavor to Gru, considering that his character is clearly inspired by some of the supervillains from James Bond franchise. His geriatric sidekick (and only friend - well, kind of) doctor Nefario and his murderous dog/rat/wolverine/skunk like pet (even after two viewings of this movie the jury is still out in my house on the question "what is this animal?") give also a great show!

3. Girl power - any parent of little girls (I have two) will fall immediately in love with Margo, Edith and Agnes, the three little orphaned sisters Gru adopts. He does it for his own evil reasons and does intend to treat them harshly and get rid of them as soon as they are no more needed - but of course ends by being completely taken under the sweet and soft but in the same time surprisingly totalitarian control little girls exercise over their fathers, adoptive or not...))) Agnes, the youngest of the three (she is barely out of the diapers) is particularly sweet - if only she was real I would adopt her on the spot and spoil her silly all the rest of my life. Tomboyish Edith is in principle the one who is the toughest and the boldest - but she was already hurt enough in her life to hide behind her pink hat which she refuses to take off even to sleep. Both her and the precociously adult (at least on surface of things) Margo are also a delight to watch. If you already are a parent of a little girl, you WILL LOVE this movie. And if you do not have yet a young daughter, get one!

4. But as far as the reasons to watch this movie go, even the girls must cede the first place to the minions! The incredibly devoted, fearless and highly professional and in the same time impossibly immature and conflicted "evil" army of Gru minions is THE greatest treasure of this movie. By looking at the cover of the DVD you can see some of them and frankly whoever conceived Gru minions was a world level genius. I do not want to provide spoilers, but believe me - they pack incredible fun! There is also at least one scene when their childlike devotion to their master almost made me cry - before another outburst of laughter (including a lot of giggling) in the cinema took over...

I purposefully omitted in this review many characters and did not hint at most of the gags and scenes, to avoid spoilers and keep things short.

To conclude, this is a TREASURE OF A MOVIE. A thing to buy, watch, keep and re-watch on regular basis. And I ABSOLUTELY HOPE FOR A SEQUEL!

Not one for controversy, but Shrek... who? Toy Story... yawn.
Being a man of a certain age and having too many children aged between 5 and 22, I tend to measure the success (or otherwise) of films by the number of times it's referenced by the younger members of the household and how certain lines have become a part of everyday conversations... and this one has already taken a spot in the top 10.
It has everything: great main 'evil' character, Gru (Steve Carell), kids with attitude (the smallest, Agnes, is terminally cute - check out her cheek drums and her reaction to losing her toy unicorn to a wayward laser), hilarious 'Baddie' (and probably most quotable character)- Vector (voiced by the brilliant Jason Segel), an out-of-character but nonetheless entertaining Russell Brand as a senile, almost deaf, mad scientist. Even the small part played by Julie Andrews (as Gru's mum) is worthy of mention (behind every evil supervillain, there's a mother who... well, let's just say she wouldn't be selected to play the part of a singing nun!)... and yes, there are the minions. One of the funniest and most original animated characters I've ever seen (and who ever thought of the individual names is a genius!).
A final thought (Light Bulb!) - what happened to the merchandising? As far as I can tell, there're a few over-priced minions available and very little else. Lego versions of Gru's house, car and aircraft along with mini Lego minions? Or how about Vector's house with its shark tank?

I have watched every big cartoon film for the last 25 years ( foster carer ) and this is without doubt the funniest, best story line and best produced to date . Any cartoons after this will have to be something truly special to even come close!!!