There's always been a saying that I try to live by, but always fall short. It is a great saying though. It basically goes along the lines of 'even if you know what the outcome of something will be, that surely does not mean that you can not enjoy the ride. That is super true. This is exactly, EXACTLY what happened in the movie.
In Despicable Me, we come across the standard story of spy vs. spy, as we meet the worlds' best...or 2nd best...super villain Gru, with the voice being done by the one and only Steve Carrell. He's got all the tools, but he is always being upstaged by his rival, vector (Jason Segel). After vector tops all the heists by stealing The Great Pyramid, Gru decides to go big or go home. Him and his minions (literally called minions) concoct a plan to steal the moon by using a shrink ray that is being built in a secret lab. Gru gets hold of the shrink ray, but of course vector sweeps in and steals it. Gru is all out of ideas until three little girls come trottin alond selling cookies for what appears to be an kid's orphanage. Gru realizes that through these girls, he can gain access into vector's house and steal the shrink ray, all while being unetected. Gru ends up getting control of the shrink ray, but then is at a crossroads when he realizes that these girls need more than just a person to look up to and a place to stay; they need a role model, a dad.
This was incredibly predictable and kind of boring because of that, which keeps it from getting a perfect score. But it's not an excuse to not enjoy what's being shown on the screen. The voice acting is really, really well done, and the humor is a unique blend of sentiment and raunch. The soudtrack, produced by Pharrell Williams, is pretty fly and it's an overall pretty darn entertaining movie.
Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars
