Ich - Einfach unverbesserlich

"Now, the rest of the plan is simple. I fly to the moon. I shrink the moon. I grab the moon. I sit on the toilet."

Any animated movie that was released during 2010 is inevitably going to be compared to Toy Story 3, so let's get that out of the way, first. No, Despicable Me is not "better" than Toy Story 3. On an emotional and story-telling level, it's not nearly as profound or involving. But Despicable Me isn't trying to be profound, it's aiming for amusement and entertainment. And on those two fronts, Dreamworks has a definite success on their hands.

My favorite thing about Despicable Me is how humorous it is. This is seriously the funniest animated movie that I've seen in quite a while. It has the expected amount of jokes that will give kids (and older people, too) the giggles, as well as lots of comedy that only the grown-up crowd will appreciate. It's fun to see what will pop up next (keep your eyes open for a particularly amusing reference to a particularly un-amusing scene in The Godfather).

Despicable Me is also a vivid, bright movie that's pleasing to the eye in all the right ways. The character designs are stylized and fun, the soundtrack is a nice change of pace for this kind of film, and the pacing is excellent, with nary a dull stretch. The voice talent is great, but I will admit that most of them were pretty much unrecognizable. I wouldn't have known that Jason Segel, Kristin Wiig, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, or Will Arnett were even involved, if not for the credits and the fact that I had read about them beforehand. Steve Carell and Jack McBrayer (in a small but hilarious part) are really the only voices that are easily recognizable. That's not a criticism, just an observation. 

So yeah, it's pretty clear that I liked this movie a lot. It reminds me most of Monsters, Inc. (a movie I absolutely love) in the way that it combines sweetness and humor in a manner that's never cloying or annoying. Watch it with your kids, watch it with your friends, watch it with your significant other, or watch it by yourself. You'll laugh, you'll cheer, you'll say "awwww", and you'll fall in love with Agnes, Edith, and Margo even faster than Gru does.

Despicable me is Simply Hilarious. This Movie is not just for kids, Adults are going to enjoy it even more. The youngest girl in it is sooooooo cute. Also the Small yellow minions simply adorable and so funny. The entire hall was laughing through out the movie.

The plot is very interesting to keep you engrossed throughout the movie.It is not a very original plot but has the very humorous dialogs and acts.

Steve Carell's is SIMPLY amazing, he is funny in a very different way...he is the king of the awkward embarrassing insulting type of comedy. You can't help but remember Steve carell's during some of the dialog deliveries.

One of the funniest animation movie. Definitely Worth Watching twice.

Gru (Steve Carell) is a horrible villain. Horrible as in he's not that good at it. He's petty. And when he is overtaken by another villain, he finds that he's not up to taking on Vector (Jason Segel). When he couldn't break into Vector's home, he notice 3 orphans selling cookies got in. So what's a respectable villain's suppose to do? Adopt them of course as part of an evil plan.

Gru is a weird character to like, and it's not that much fun to watch at first. His minions help a lot. Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) is also good. But it's the 3 orphans causing all kinds of problem that makes it all alright. It's pretty good animation work. And there's a good story of how a bad guy learn to love. It has its funny moments and it has the minions.

I love this movie! It was so adorable, so charming & the writing was absolutely terrific! I love the animation & the characters (including the minions) were all fantastic! A MUST WATCH!

I should note that I did NOT see this film in 3-D but at a non-3-D equipped theater. I am not sure that this impacted my viewing experience very much as most 3-D films I have seen really didn't benefit much from this technology--the most notable exception being "How To Train Your Dragon"--a film that fully utilized 3-D and was amazing to see in all its glory.

I should also point out that I knew exactly where this film was going long before it got there--and I am sure most adult viewers and kids probably felt the same way. Heck, just by watching the preview for the film a few months back, I knew exactly where the film would go. But despite being a formulaic film where the big curmudgeon has his heart melted by some adorable orphans, I still had a wonderful time watching the movie. Why? Because it did something that many family movies forget--it was fun!! And, on top of that, it was super-cute--but not in a cloying manner. Unless you are Genghis Khan, you WILL find the countless little yellow minions to be completely adorable and funny--a real high point for the film. Heck, a couple months before the film was released, I was at Universal Studios in Florida and just HAD to have my picture taken with one of these characters as it roamed the park--it was just so freaking cute! And, I even liked the adorable little orphans--something I usually hate in films. They had a good balance between cute, sassy and endearing.

Overall, this is a wonderful 3-D movie because parents can enjoy it. I loved the characters and thought the French animators did a terrific job--with artistry that stacks up very well against the older and more established CGI studios, Pixar and Dreamworks. A pleasant treat that won't change your life...but who cares if it's so entertaining?!

By the way, the plot for this film sure looks a lot like "Megamind" that was released just a few weeks later. I have yet to see "Megamind" and plan on doing so soon, so I'll update this review to reflect which of the two films I preferred. I just can't imagine how "Megamind" could be that much better!