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Visitors Review

2012-05-24 16:45:50

Loved it!!! 6 stars!

This review is from: Despicable Me (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (Blu-ray) I was skeptical when I saw that Steve Carell played the lead role. But I didn't even really notice. I thought he did a tremendous job with this character. really surprised, guess I don't know enough of his work. The movie was probably the best I saw in 2010. Can you believe that? A cartoon! I guess that is more common nowadays. Women were crying in the theater, including the one next to me! You know, that good cry. Watch this with your girl and/or family at home! Good couple of hours spent. I'd give it 6 stars, and i don't say that lightly. I saw Megamind last year also, and was so disappointed after seeing this. Not that it was really bad, but it pandered. If you have to make a choice, go with this one! This is THE 3D family movie!

Dan Franzen 2012-05-24 07:13:53

Great voice showcase for Carell's comedic improv

Despicable Me, from its initial previews, looked kind of, well, lame.Like it wasn't sure what it wanted to be. Was it about good versusevil? The little tots who wind up in almost every scene were barelyseen in the initial trailers. So I had sort of dismissed the movie. Butthat was a wrong decision, as the movie has a lot of heart, terrificvoice performances, and a simple, plausible plot that can please bothyoungsters and cranky old people. And the rest of you.Groo (Steve Carell) is the world's number-one supervillain. He lives ina lair that's beset on all sides by suburbia, and deep within that lairare house his thousands of minions, tiny little alien-looking creatureswho serve to live and live to serve. (They sort of remind me of thealien toys from Toy Story.)Groo is a mastermind who has big, big plans – he wants to go to themoon, shrink it, bring it back to earth, and ransom it for untoldriches. To do this, he needs a loan from an evil banker (Will Arnett),who won't even talk to him until Groo can produce the needed shrinkray. Meanwhile, Groo isn't the only evil bastard out there, as a newkid on the block named Vector (Jason Segal) is already outdoing him insheer villainy, having swiped the Great Pyramid of Giza.Vector has the shrink ray, and Groo has a problem. He hits upon a mostcynical solution – he'll use orphans! He adopts a trio of little girls(led by Miranda Cosgrove) who have been tasked with selling cookiesdoor to door, and it turns out Vector's ordered a huge batch. Groo seesthis as a way into Vector's own lair, thus allowing him to grab the gunand get the loan and shrink the moon and get all the riches in theworld! But he doesn't quite count on the girls' charms. It's said thatGroo's heart grew (ha, unintended pun) three sizes that day.Carell gives Groo a Slavic/Russian accent that's reminiscent of, amongothers, Bela Lugosi and Blofeld. The voice and the character are aperfect match, and Carell is terrific as he always seems to be in hisvoice work. Groo looks like The Penguin, come to think of it, addinganother layer of villainy.Anyway, one thing that makes this work is that the shift from Groo asterrifying bad guy to cuddly father figure is slight, slow, andcompletely believable. Imagine if you hated kids, or at least had noreal use for them. Then you do find a use and figure you can discardthem later on, only you find it ain't that easy. Never is with kids, isit? The movie could have taken the easier way of having Groo recruitthe kidlets to help him in his nefarious scenes, but instead they havehim blindly pretend nothing is amiss, that the minions are his cousins,and so on. Subtlety is key.The animation is pretty good, about what you'd expect. It was probablya real hoot to see in 3D, but alas I saw it on my home screen, which isstill in 2D and will remain so until the industry has its act together.But even in 2D, it's an exciting, entertaining movie, and it has some3D-oriented surprises during the end credits.

2012-05-22 11:13:33

Great Movie

I was surprised at how much I liked this movie. Watched it with the family and all really seemed to enjoy it.

2012-05-21 22:07:22

Absolute must see

So much fun...I laughed so hard! It's very touching as well...a movie for all to see!!

2012-05-21 00:28:39

Cute cartoon movie

This review is from: Despicable Me (Single-Disc Edition) (DVD) A very cute cartoon movie, with unexpected twists and turns. Well written. A bit long in the last part, but still worth watching!Beautifully drawn and animated!

2012-05-20 11:12:13

Great Family movie

This review is from: Despicable Me (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) This movie is one of the cutest I have seen in a long time. It is age appropriate for the younger kids if you don't mind them seeing a fart gun (Really what kid in public school does not hear things worse than this)and a toy character that is animated photocopy there butt (Again Kids do, see, and say worse things tan this when they are with other kids.) yet still entertaining for the grownups. This is a definite must watch children s movie.

RichardSRussell-1 2012-05-20 10:35:41

A Chuckle-Delivery Vehicle That Performs Up to Design Specs

Despicable Me (1:35, PG) — Other: Comedy; 2nd string; originalYou remember those little green 3-eyed space aliens who came out of thepay-a-quarter grabber box in Toy Story? Well, Despicable Me comes upwith a legion of similarly whimsical scene-stealers: the minions,little yellow guys shaped like time-release capsules, all of whom weargoggles over either 1 or 2 eyes and scurry cheerfully and endlessly (ifnot always effectively) to do the bidding of their master Gru (SteveCarell), the World's Greatest Villain, or his hench-mad-scientist Dr.Nefario (Russell Brand).The WGV title is visually underlined by driving the biggest pollutersince Mount Pinatubo but apparently determined solely by which worldlandmarks one has recently stolen. This dubious distinction seems to beslipping out of Gru's grasp, as most recently the Great Pyramid of Gizahas been pilfered by upstart Vector (Jason Segel), a nebbishy young guyin a jumpsuit which — like everything he owns — is embellished with agiant letter "V". Gru determines to top this feat by upping the anteand stealing … the Moon!To do this, however, he needs financing, so he returns to the placewhich has always backed his fiendish endeavors in the past, the Bank ofEvil and its pompous but imposing director, Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett).Unbeknownst to Gru, however, Perkins is Vector's father and is secretlyrigging the game so that his boy will prevail in the end.The oi in the flyntment comes in the most innocuous form, as 3 littleorphans from Miss Hattie's School for Girls — responsible oldest sisterMargo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Geier), and unicornphile Agnes(Elsie Fisher) — appear at Vector's front door selling cookies. Vectoreffusively welcomes them (since he just loves coconutties), and Gru,hiding in the bushes doing recon, hatches a scheme to infiltrate hisrival's headquarters. He adopts the girls, then sneaks robot cookiesinto the order his new wards deliver to Vector.At this point, true to his villainous nature, he figures the girls haveoutlived their usefulness and tries to get rid of them. But they'rereally adorable, and they inveigle him into a carnival where he becomesincensed at one of the rigged games; grossly overreacts; wins the bigstuffed animal for the little girls; earns their admiration, gratitude,hugs, and devotion; and loses his heart. He soon finds himselfdithering over competing entries for May 26 in his appointmentcalendar: Swan Lake (the girls are taking ballet) or Steal the Moon.Meanwhile, Nefario grows increasingly exasperated at his boss's loss offocus. His own reputation is on the line, too. Unfortunately, hishearing is starting to fail him, and he's been turning out noogierobots and fart guns instead of cookie robots and dart guns. And thewhole movie is like that, basically a joke a minute, almost all of themwinners.This is an immensely good-natured film, with a plethora of visual gagsand the occasional bone tossed to the adults (like the subtitle"formerly Lehman Brothers" under the Bank of Evil logo).Despicable Me is also completely shallow. Everything is on the surface.There's not even as much character development as in, say, How To TrainYour Dragon (another animated kid flick that had a more serious bent toit). But it never pretends to more. It's a chuckle-delivery vehicle,and it performs completely up to its design specs.My only serious complaint was that Hans Zimmer's score featured toomuch loud, pervasive drum banging in the early going, but fortunatelyhe stopped after awhile.Story by Sergio Pablos, screenplay by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul,direction by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud. Bravo! More, please.

2012-05-19 19:55:24

Not Despicable at All *Completely Spoiler Free!*

Rest assured if you enjoy laughter and a heartwarming tale this is your film. It's not a deeply philosophical story and may be called simple by some, but what it attempts to do it does well through the use of cleverly written characters, stylized visuals, and a great soundtrack.The story: May not be the most original premise in the world but is presented in a very fluid manner with original and funny jokes aimed at adults and kids alike. The ending may or may not make you cry happily but odds are to the former no matter whether you're single, married, with kids, or a kid yourself. It's a story that touches anyone with parents. The characters all seemed to posses traits which viewers can identify with someone in their lives, which is very difficult to do and shows good writing (Notable use of a great portrayal of a single dad family). The Visuals: Stylized and beautiful. The characters all have pronounced physical character, none are the stereotypical "beautiful" person yet even with their pronounced cartoonish traits they all seem very real to the viewer as believable characters with real lives, almost like caricatures of real people left over from a carnival in any random state. Items in the movie do seem to have well-rendered visual textures, and the style of them follows the style of the people. I never noticed any horrible mistakes, everything looked wonderful. Sound: Pharrel contributes some wonderful songs to the soundtrack that serve to show that children's movies don't have to rely entirely on recycled tunes. They are both fun and very modern sounding. In addition, the movie doe utilize a Bee Gee's disco hit: You Should Be Dancing, and the classic Boogie Fever by the Sylvers. They add the needed back beat to a couple of dance scenes that you will either love or hate, depending on your tastes. :)The negatives and conclusion: The complaints are few. Some say the story leans too much to the main character Gru's plot, and not enough to his later interactions with the girls. Some complained that use of obvious 3D tricks was so prevalent that it detracted from the plot. I personally didn't think that either of these was a major issue, this movie isn't supposed to be perfect, it's supposed to entertain and touch you emotionally and I felt that it accomplished this well. Just go in expecting a fun time and you'll most likely enjoy yourself. :)

2012-05-18 17:39:07

awesome movie

This review is from: Despicable Me (Single-Disc Edition) (DVD) I LOVE this movie, and so do my children (ages 8 and 10). It is very funny for everyone in the family boys, girls, young, old. After I saw it in the theater I knew we just had to own it. It is in my top ranking for great family movies.

napierslogs 2012-05-18 05:27:47

I highly recommend "Despicable Me" for its "pure" comedy

"Despicable Me" really is an animated family comedy. With such asimple, but clever, storyline of villain vs. villain, it is just a kidsmovie despite the many stars for attraction of an older audience.It is full of funny lines, which are not unsuitable or over kids'heads. Adults will be able to appropriately laugh throughout the filmalong with all the other kids. So many recent animated family comedieshave claimed its funny for the adults and kids, but they have differentjokes for them. Jokes that are inappropriate for kids that they don'tunderstand and they sit there confused as their parents laugh at maturehumour. The great thing about "Despicable Me" is that it's one of thefirst where it's so well written that it's the same jokes that theadults and kids will be laughing at. These jokes are sweet, simple andgenuinely funny.Steve Carell is great as Gru, the struggling villain, who comes up withludicrous plans to become a super villain. I was particularly impressedwith Jason Segel as Vector, the super villain (who commits crimes withdirection and magnitude). The original songs written for this movie arealso catchy and humorous.I highly recommend "Despicable Me" for its "pure" comedy.

TheLittleSongbird 2012-05-18 03:14:03

Cute and wonderfully inventive

I heard that this movie was very good, and after seeing seeing itmyself, I have to say I heartily concur. While not my favourite film ofthe year, and the film never tries to be that, Despicable Me is cuteand wonderfully inventive. While it could have been a little longer,what made Despicable Me work was a number of things. The animation forstarters is stunning, I liked the colours and character designs but itwas the backgrounds and retro-futurist design that blew me away, whilethe gadgetry is ingenious.The music fits very well with the film and is memorable without beingoverly ambitious or simplistic, the story is ceaselessly inventive andfast paced with a surprisingly clever subplot about the importance offamily. The characters also add a lot, Gru is wonderfully zanyespecially and I found it impossible not to fall in love with hisminions, they are so cute. But my favourite assets of Despicable Me arethe humour and the voice cast. The writing is just excellent, it was sofunny and incredibly smart without feeling too much, while the voicework is exemplary especially from Steve Carell whose brilliant vocalsadd a lot to the film's success.Overall, a truly great film with a lot to like. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Bollywood_Stoolsoftener 2012-05-17 14:28:20

More Than Just We ....

To cash on the popularity of newly discovered animated movies and therising popularity of Despicable Me is viewed as a cash cow. What a congame!!! With regards to the story, it simply fails to connect with thechildren. A simple linear story could have been identifiable with kids,but the story starts off on a wrong note. Even my son felt disenchantedwithin 30-minutes. As for me, the movie seemed to be a rehash of LionKing.Well, the secret which has been unveiled now throws quite some surpriseas it is revealed that the animation film Despicable Me is neither anIndian product nor has it been made in collaboration with anInternational animation house. Instead, Percept Picture Company hasclaimed the rights of a US film that goes by the name of Despicable Me.Meanwhile, the buzz is that Akshay Kumit will be dancing to the latesttunes with supermodel Naomi Campbell for the shooting of a promotionalvideo for Despicable Me. Joining them will be his wife Twinkle andBollywood starlet Lara Dutta. The actor has already worked with a lotof Hollywood biggies like Sylvester Stallone, Preston Routh and SnoopDogg for his other movies.

2012-05-17 00:33:45

Christmas

This review is from: Despicable Me (Single-Disc Edition) (DVD) Came way earlier than it said it would be. So we opened that movie and all of us got together and watched it the same day. Thank you for a great movie and a great family night.

2012-05-16 04:42:20

Incredible Movie, but Poor DVD Release

This review is from: Despicable Me (Minion Madness DVD Double Pack) (DVD) Despicable Me is an incredible movie. It's funny, original, and entertaining for both kids and adults. The problem I have is with how it was released. You could get the regular DVD version, but it doesn't come with the 3-Mini movies, which are sold as a seperate disk. (Or you pay extra getting them both together.) This is just wrong. This is basicly punishing people who still value and use DVDs - because they are trying to force you to buy the Blueray edition. There is no reason this couldn't have been sold as a two-disk edition. In fact, it would have been more inviromentally friendly to just do that, instead of making a second DVD case just for some minor special features.And the worst part of it is - those mini-movies just aren't that funny. Steve Carrel is noticably abscent from them. The only redeeming nature of the second disk was a feature telling about the voice-cast of the movie. There is no reason this couldn't have been put along with the regular DVD disk - they are just trying to make a quick few extra bucks by annoying us with "sold seperately" special features. I hope they did make money - because I'm libable not to come back and buy another movie sold in this fashion next time.It really is a great movie. But you can save some money and just get the Single DVD Edition. The mini-movies just aren't worth it.

2012-05-15 20:38:50

Best Animated film of 2010

This review is from: Despicable Me (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) "Toy Story 3" may have won the Golden Globe award for best animated film, but far and away the BEST animated film in 2010 was "Despicable Me". I've seen both films and although very good, "Toy Story 3" cannot match "Despicable Me" at any level. "Despicable Me" is funnier and will appeal to adults as well as children. Steve Carell is outstanding. This is a film you will want to watch more than once, it's a classic.

tubby1 2012-05-15 12:07:23

A Despicable Delight

Despicable Me is a fun film. It is a simple story coated with wonderfulmoments, and characters that are pleasing to watch. From Gru with hisaim to become the most evil villain in the world to his eccentric bututterly lovable Minions (a great creation).Giggles, and there are lots of them work through a certain subtlety.The moving of a characters face, voice or body (special mention to theMinions)or the sweet scene stealing 'Unicorns I love them' Agnes reallydoes work. When Despicable Me does try with a more slapstick, or crash,bang wallop it does full a little flat. Arch-nemesis Vector and Gru'sassistant Dr. Nefarious are at times in Despicable Me a little weak.Indeed it is Gru but more so the orphan girls and Minions that we wantto see. I must mention the animation which is very good and well-brought tolife but also the musical presence in the film, as I really noticed it.The music is rather modern and funky for an animation, and gave for mea contemporary twist, which I enjoyed. I admire Despicable Me for its simple yet highly creativity tale. Thereare many scenes that are highly memorable and you would have to have aheart of steel not to be touched by the manner it draws the film to itsloving and charming conclusion.

2012-05-09 09:12:02

Amazing movie!! great gift for someone

This review is from: Despicable Me (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) My cousin once told me how much she loved this movie, and she kept repeating the dialogue "it's so flufffyyyy!!" from the movie. I thought this would be a perfect gift for her. She was really delighted to receive this package as a Christmas present.I like the fact that it has a DVD, a Blu-Ray DVD, and a digital version of the movie.Great value for money!A must watch movie, and a must-have in your collection of animation movies.

2012-05-09 00:13:36

Really, it is fun for the whole family!

This review is from: Despicable Me (Single-Disc Edition) (DVD) This movie is a little different from your average "family" movie...in a good way. There's some rude humor (but not as overt as Shrek for example) but enough to keep my youngest very happy. It's a fun adventure with a heart, creative and not completely predictable. And the best part? Minions, of course!

breckham101 2012-05-02 15:00:39

Great family movie

This film has many funny moments for both children and adults making itenjoyable for not just the children but also for older audiences aswell. The voice acting is well done and also well synced to theanimation. One of the good things about this film is the fact that itdoesn't take itself too seriously, although it does deal with somedrama. Although, several things I didn't like were the amount of detailon the strange yellow minions was well underwhelming. Also by the endof the film the name "Despicable Me" doesn't seem to have muchrelevancy to the story. But, overall it is highly enjoyable and a great3d experience as well. I give this film 8/10 stars. Verdict: 8/10 VeryGood

kosmasp 2012-05-02 04:16:12

Anything but despicable!

An animated feature that is not from Pixar, but is still really good?Yes it can happen! Despicable me might not have the values and depth ofthe movie "Up" or other Pixar movies, but on entertainment value alonethis does not have to hide behind any other movie. I was a bitskeptical, but the movie really got to me.Steve Carrell is adorable rather than frightening. And he does manageto walk the line between being cruel and a bit mean, but also still anice and warm character. Kudos for writing him like that, but also forhis voice performance (he does have an accent you see, one of hisspecialties apparently).You might have seen quite a few scenes in the trailer, but there isstill quite a few things to discover in the movie itself. Fun andlight, but still with a few punches here and there. Sweet and sour soto speak. Open yourself up to the movie and you will relish theexperience!