Despicable Me

Despicable Me has had positive reviews in most quarters and that has no doubt helped propel it to some huge box office returns (a sequel is apparently already in the pipeline). I’m not so sure it’s all that great though. I may have fallen into the trailer trap with this one though, as it seemed every funny scene I had already seen in the trailer and there wasn’t much new in the film to raise additional giggles (though I still laughed at the “It’s so fluffy!” line, despite seeing it about 5 times already). In the film, Steve Carell provides the voice of Gru, a criminal mastermind who finds himself knocked off the top spot of the league table of super villains when a competitor of his steals the Egyptian Pyramids. In order to regain his “title”, Gru, with the help of his minions (little creatures that resemble the toy casings you find in a Kinder Surprise egg), hatch a plan to steal the moon. However, the introduction of three orphaned girls into Gru’s life mean….well, you don’t need to be a criminal mastermind yourself to guess what may happen next. There are some neat touches here, from the amusing tag lines to a couple of funny gags (Gru visits the Bank of Evil in order to take a loan out to help finance his latest plan), but they are off-set by a complete lack of originality, especially in the shape of Gru’s arch enemy, a young villain named Vector. Where Steve Carell got Gru’s stupid quasi-Russian accent is anyone’s guess, but it’s certainly not funny. Kids will enjoy this more than adults, as the emphasis is on slapstick as opposed to anything more cutting edge or satirical. Maybe I was just having an off day and have missed what lots of other people appear to have seen. Despicable Me, you could say.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
There isn’t much new here to make you sit up and take notice, but any tots watching will go away happy. Rating: 5/10.