So, how does Illumination Entertainment & Universal Studios compete with a summertime mega-blockbuster Disney-Pixar release like “Toy Story 3”? They release an adorable, fun, entertaining blockbuster of their own.
When I saw the first trailers for “Despicable Me”, I wasn’t sure exactly what it was supposed to be about… future trailers actually gave us a hint of what the story was going to be about, and I knew it was on our summer “To See” list. On my little guy’s 7th birthday we went to see “Despicable Me”, and what an incredible movie this was to watch! It was funny, smart, with just enough touchy-feely to be cute yet not sappy. Critics have loved this kiddie hit, and I have to say it is one of the summer’s best.
I try, in my reviews, to mention potentially scary parts that kids who are highly sensitive or easily scared may need to be warned about. I can not think of a single scene in this movie that warrants mentioning for “scary” factor. My kids didn’t give a single scared gasp at anything in it.
The animation is top-tier, the voices are perfect, the story is amazingly engaging and of course it has a happy ending (it is a kiddie cartoon, after all). The minions are so damn cute, I wanted to stick one in my purse to bring home. It’s PG rating comes from some locker-room-ish humor, like Gru telling his old man assistant to make a dart gun, and he makes a fart gun instead. The fart gun makes a fart noise and a gray cloud of odor wafts through the air and knocks over a minion. A few other crude humor moments give it it’s PG rating, but don’t worry, the crude humor is actually humorous, not stupid or forced-feeling.
“Despicable Me” is a must see this summer, with or without kids!