Moi, moche et méchant 3

24 July 2017 Film of Choice at The Plaza Dorchester this evening - Despicable Me 3. So this is the third outing for Gru and his girls, and his weird dog, and his many many minions. I for one am happy to get back to the old team, I found the Minions film a little too much Minion. This outing gives us another outrageous villain, a guy called Balthazar Bratt, a character completely stuck in the 80s with his music and his dance moves and armed with expanding bubble gum as his weapon of choice. Throw into the mix the discovery that Gru has in fact got a twin brother called Dru and you've got a pretty watchable film. I can't say it was outrageously funny but I did giggle throughout. The humour is very Benny Hill in its slapstick delivery and throw in the sheer determination of Agnes that the existence of unicorns is true, you have quite an endearing film to keep you entertained for a while.

This film tells the story of the ex-villain Gru, who teams up with his twin brother whom he has never met, in order to fight against the former famous child star in Hollywood who has become a horrible villain.

"Despicable Me 3" is so much fun! The plot is super funny as usual. The cinema laughed hard many times. Every character is cute, even the villains. Using bubblegum as a weapon is a novel idea, and it's actually fun. The mansion is crazily nice, abs the minions are cute as usual. I enjoyed it lots, and the many children in the cinema enjoyed it too.

As far as disposable sequels to kids films, Despicable Me 3 is pretty much on par with Cars 3 (2017). It's not a particularly memorable film nor can it really hold its own against something like The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) but at least it's not unpleasant. In-fact in may ways Despicable Me 3 is better than the original in that it improves its look-and-feel and provides a decent foil for once in the form of Trey Parker's Balthazar Bratt. Of course it's to the detriment of neutering the refreshing mean-spirited-ness of the original, but hey, at least you still got those Minions am I right? Despicable Me 3 catches Gru (Carell) and newly minted wife Lucy (Wiig) trying and failing to secure the world's largest diamond from the hands of Bratt our flamboyant 80's themed villain. Fired by the new head of the Anti-Villain League (Slate), Gru and Lucy discover he has a twin brother named Dru (also Carell) whom their parents separated at birth. With nothing on their plate, Gru, Lucy and the girls (Cosgrove, Gaier and Scharrel), travel to the Mediterranean coasts of Freedonia to meet Dru.

When the family lands in Freedonia, the movie descends into a series of fun but thematically incongruous vignettes. Gru bonds with his brother over Dru's desire to become a villain, Lucy fails, succeeds and fails again to become a mother figure to the three girls, Agnes, the youngest of the three tries to capture a unicorn, Balthazar Bratt sees his plans for world domination come to near-fruition and the Minions...well let's just say they have their own thing going as well.

About half of all this busy, busy, business works at least as far as furthering the plot. The fact that none of the film's insanity really coalesces into a compelling whole, only makes the film feel more like a mediocre sitcom episode than an actual movie. Yet as far as inspired moments of slapstick, Despicable Me 3 supplies a little bit more than is to be expected. One highlight involves Gru and Dru driving around the Freedonian countryside in a golden-plated mean machine while police follow while riding literal pigs. Parents will find these comedic bits more amusing than funny but the kids, the kids will be rolling up and down the aisles.

And isn't that what this movie is ultimately about? To provide entertainment to children? While I don't necessarily condone families watching kid's films for their own sake (and this one in particular is all over the map as far as messaging), there's not really all that much to object about here. Despicable Me 3 is at its core a thoughtless but entertaining jumble of sights, sounds and goofiness. Thankfully unlike your racist aunt, Illumination Entertainment has not used the Minions for nefarious purposes...at least not yet.

Enjoyable especially all the 80s jokes! Gru finds out he has a long lost brother mayhem and hilarity ensue.

There are also tender moments that touch your heart, the unicorn search was magical.

Worth the rental.

The first two 'Despicable Me' films were fantastic family fun, but, despite absolutely loving the scene-stealing minions 'Minions' was underwhelming (giving the sense, though in all fairness they were not well utilised in their own film, that the minions are better as supporting characters rather than leading).

'Despicable Me 3' is a disappointment after the first two films but is better than 'Minions'. There is a lot to like about it, but it does feel very uneven and gives the sense that the 'Despicable Me' franchise has somewhat run its course. None of it reaches terrible depths though, just that the film could have been much better considering what came before it.

Once again, the animation is wonderful. There are rich bright colours, lovingly and appealingly designed characters (nothing looks awkward like some of the human character designs in 'Minions'), meticulously detailed backgrounds and some real visual invention. 'Despicable Me 3' boasts a killer soundtrack that makes one nostalgic for the 80s (with Michael Jackson and Madonna), Heitor Pereira's score is suitably funky and Pharrell Williams' own contribution (especially the heartfelt and cute "There's Something Special") is note-worthy too.

Some of the writing is witty, sharp and smart and there are some wildly funny and beautifully timed sight gags. One cannot say that 'Despicable Me 3' doesn't have any heart either, there are some sweet and touching moments here. The characters are likable, especially Gru and the minions (who once again steal scenes despite being underused somewhat), and the voice acting is excellent, Steve Carrell has still got it and proves that with good material and with a good character (like with Gru) he is a very talented comic actor (though he has shown a wider range than that too).

However, other parts of the humour comes over in a scatter-shot way and suffer from a flabbiness and predictability. To me the villain was also a little bland, didn't find him particularly memorable or that much of a threat, and some of the soundtrack is compromised by the humour coming by so thick and fast that a few of the songs don't register or don't feel necessary.

The most problematic aspects are the story and the pacing. The pacing occasionally is perfect but at some points it feels tired and at many other points it's almost too hyper-active and jumpy so a lot of the film feels rushed. The story suffers from being over-stuffed and bloated, it's basically three or four plots stuffed into one and not enough time is spent with either. The focus jumps around a lot with some of the transitions on the choppy side so the film and the story-line can feel disjointed.

Overall, not a bad film at all but was expecting better considering how good the first two 'Despicable Me' films are. 6/10 Bethany Cox