Jason KingDespicable Me (7/10)
September 10th 2010 07:24
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It's No UP
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Despicable Me (7/10)
Despicable Me is the latest blockbuster 3D (although there are 2D versions availble) animation on the market that appears to endeavour to follow the lines of a Pixar film. However, and I may get shot down for this, it fails to reach the success and emotional levels of a Pixar film.
The story is absurdly good. Evil mastermind, Gru, wants to be known as the most succesful evil mastermind there is, but he is getting older and there are younger and more ingenious masterminds coming through the ranks. One of them, Vector, has just started making a name for himself after stealing the Great Pyramid of Giza and replacing it with a blow up replica. So Gru, his assistant, Dr Nefario and all of his minions plan on stealing the moon and holding it to ransom. To do this he must first steal a shrink ray so he can shrink it, and I am pretty sure it looks as though he is stealing the shrink ray from Nth Koreans.
The voice talent in this film is astounding. Steve Carrell voices Gru in what I consider his best voice role. It is so on the money with a European accent and suits the evil Gru immensely. Most of the time you will not even recognise that it is actually Carrell. Vector is voiced by Jason Segel and he had me in stitches, his inventions of evil are quite bizarre. My favourite being the piranha gun that shoots live piranhas at intended target - I also though he had the best evil lair out of the world's all time evil lairs. It craps on Dr Evils
. Russell Brand is also quite unrecognisable as the old mad scientist assistant of Gru and he plays it down toned. He is not his normal over the top self and his comedy actually comes from what is going on around him. Julie Andrews as Gru's mum and Will Arnett as Mr Perkins top out the list of A grade voice talent.
The thing that made this film for me were the Minions, the cutest and craziest race of little yellow creatures that speak a very weird language. The French Directors, Pierre Coffin anbd Chris Renaud, actually wrote a language of gibberish that the Minions speak - it is called Minioneise and every word the Minions speak can be translated into an actual word in the English language. The closest thing to a Minion I can describe is the little green things from "The Claw" in Toy Story - and funnily they are my favourite characters in the Toy Story films. The Minions all have a personality and are all so lovable. I kept leaning to my friend, Darinka, and telling her "I've got to have a minion". My best example of them was being stuck in an air vent with no light so one minion cracks the back of another minion and he lights up like a glow stick. Way cool. I also kept laughing at the poor minion who floated away after drinking anti gravity potion who keeps popping up throughout the film.
This film also has some of the best usage of 3D animation on the market. There is a rollercoaster ride that actually had me feeling my stomach lift up and down - but it does not go for two long and does not overdo it with gimmicky effects. There is also a brilliant piece in the closing credits between a few minions measuring how far out of the screen they can come into the auditorium. Loved it.
Where this film let me down was in it being too cute and made too much for children and lacking the universal adult appeal from the Pixar range. It has some moments of Gru growing a heart and falling in love with 3 orphans he adopts to assist his battles with Vector, and while touching, it did not have as much of a deep undertone or back story as the Pixar films. It has a lot of humor in the film and this was much loved for giggles but I did find a lot of the humor was something kids would find a lot more funnier. The thing I most realised in the film is why Pixar is always spot on and succesful. It isn't about comedy or jokes for them or getting a laugh out of the audience, it is all about the story and the rest takes care of itself. This is something all the other animation studios should really consider because while I enjoyed this movie and its cuteness it really lacked the soul of a Pixar.
And for those that like to know: There is a WILHELM SCREAM ALERT - When Gru's mother kicks a punching bag knocking an instructor flying.
It is out now and is available in 35mm and 3D prints - I do recommend to watch this in 3D as it is heavily visual based. It is definitely something for the kids and you will get a few laughs out of it yourself. Worth 7 out of 10.
Despicable Me is the latest blockbuster 3D (although there are 2D versions availble) animation on the market that appears to endeavour to follow the lines of a Pixar film. However, and I may get shot down for this, it fails to reach the success and emotional levels of a Pixar film.
The story is absurdly good. Evil mastermind, Gru, wants to be known as the most succesful evil mastermind there is, but he is getting older and there are younger and more ingenious masterminds coming through the ranks. One of them, Vector, has just started making a name for himself after stealing the Great Pyramid of Giza and replacing it with a blow up replica. So Gru, his assistant, Dr Nefario and all of his minions plan on stealing the moon and holding it to ransom. To do this he must first steal a shrink ray so he can shrink it, and I am pretty sure it looks as though he is stealing the shrink ray from Nth Koreans.
The voice talent in this film is astounding. Steve Carrell voices Gru in what I consider his best voice role. It is so on the money with a European accent and suits the evil Gru immensely. Most of the time you will not even recognise that it is actually Carrell. Vector is voiced by Jason Segel and he had me in stitches, his inventions of evil are quite bizarre. My favourite being the piranha gun that shoots live piranhas at intended target - I also though he had the best evil lair out of the world's all time evil lairs. It craps on Dr Evils
. Russell Brand is also quite unrecognisable as the old mad scientist assistant of Gru and he plays it down toned. He is not his normal over the top self and his comedy actually comes from what is going on around him. Julie Andrews as Gru's mum and Will Arnett as Mr Perkins top out the list of A grade voice talent.
The thing that made this film for me were the Minions, the cutest and craziest race of little yellow creatures that speak a very weird language. The French Directors, Pierre Coffin anbd Chris Renaud, actually wrote a language of gibberish that the Minions speak - it is called Minioneise and every word the Minions speak can be translated into an actual word in the English language. The closest thing to a Minion I can describe is the little green things from "The Claw" in Toy Story - and funnily they are my favourite characters in the Toy Story films. The Minions all have a personality and are all so lovable. I kept leaning to my friend, Darinka, and telling her "I've got to have a minion". My best example of them was being stuck in an air vent with no light so one minion cracks the back of another minion and he lights up like a glow stick. Way cool. I also kept laughing at the poor minion who floated away after drinking anti gravity potion who keeps popping up throughout the film.
This film also has some of the best usage of 3D animation on the market. There is a rollercoaster ride that actually had me feeling my stomach lift up and down - but it does not go for two long and does not overdo it with gimmicky effects. There is also a brilliant piece in the closing credits between a few minions measuring how far out of the screen they can come into the auditorium. Loved it.
Where this film let me down was in it being too cute and made too much for children and lacking the universal adult appeal from the Pixar range. It has some moments of Gru growing a heart and falling in love with 3 orphans he adopts to assist his battles with Vector, and while touching, it did not have as much of a deep undertone or back story as the Pixar films. It has a lot of humor in the film and this was much loved for giggles but I did find a lot of the humor was something kids would find a lot more funnier. The thing I most realised in the film is why Pixar is always spot on and succesful. It isn't about comedy or jokes for them or getting a laugh out of the audience, it is all about the story and the rest takes care of itself. This is something all the other animation studios should really consider because while I enjoyed this movie and its cuteness it really lacked the soul of a Pixar.
And for those that like to know: There is a WILHELM SCREAM ALERT - When Gru's mother kicks a punching bag knocking an instructor flying.
It is out now and is available in 35mm and 3D prints - I do recommend to watch this in 3D as it is heavily visual based. It is definitely something for the kids and you will get a few laughs out of it yourself. Worth 7 out of 10.
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