Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Despicable Me 3'

Written by Mike Cervantes

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There is an undeniable appeal to this series, one that’s hard to describe because there is very little that distinguishes it from animated feature films from third parties that were released at the exact same time. It’s a cartoon made on a moderate budget by a mainstream film studio, Universal in this case. It features a lead character that is a loveable grouch whose deviant actions are redeemed by the people who love him. It has soft morals and family values that both children and adults can appreciate, but not as much as the seemingly endless barrage of frat humor and slapstick; enough to fill 100 episodes of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
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But to its credit Despicable Me is still alive and kicking, despite many of its peers having sailed into the animated franchise sunset ages ago, outliving movies with similar plots that released at around the same time, and even reaching past the success of a pair of movies Illumination has put out after getting free reign over Universal’s animated release schedule. We’re now in the third movie of this series, or the fourth, if you understandably consider last year’s Minions film to be part of the set, and I have to admit, it still serves its purpose as a just-plain good time at the movies, even though this seems to be the most abridged and least plot-centric of every one of its predecessors.

Once again, Steve Carell plays Gru, a reformed mad scientist turned secret agent whose rough edges have long been softened by the presence of his three adopted daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Nev Sharrel), and his wife Lucy (Kristin Wiig). A botched attempt at trying to capture a former child star turned 80’s obsessed supervillain named Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) lands Gru and Lucy in the unemployment line, courtesy of the new Anti-Villains League supervisor Valerie Da Vinci (Jenny Slate). If that wasn’t bad enough, Gru’s abandonment of the villain’s life has caused his team of cute and marketable minions (all voiced by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud) to go on strike and abandon Gru, inevitably ending up in prison.

When things look their darkest, Gru receives an invitation from a butler named Fritz (Steve Coogan) from Gru’s long lost brother Dru, who lives in their native Freedonia. Also voiced by Carrell, Dru appears to be a more successful and dynamic version of Gru, but holds the secret that he’s an equally failed former supervillain, and thus needs Gru’s guidance to restore his family’s reputation for wickedness.

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It doesn’t take long to discover that, for all of the plot that’s being established, Despicable Me 3 is a pretty paint-by-numbers sequel, which is a shame because the previous two films worked hard to distinguish its main protagonist, Gru, as a character of great depth and dimension, first by making him the ward of three daughters, and by creating for him a love interest. This movie makes no attempt to deconstruct Gru a third time, even though there was ample opportunity to do so with the unemployment and family reunion themes of this film. Instead, the film chooses to merely play out as an extension of the lives of the eccentric family we’ve already come to known. A jaunt across the fictional country of Freedonia permits Gru’s daughters to go off on random adventures involving a misunderstood engagement and a hunt for a wild unicorn, while Wiig’s Lucy delves within the subplot of learning how to be a new mother. Gru’s only plan is to manipulate his naive brother Dru to steal a rare diamond back from Bratt and use it to get his and Lucy’s job back.

What has already been established in-universe by this series is ultimately taken for granted by this film. In a universe that is established as a breeding ground for various professional and rival supervillains, we only get Trey Parker’s Balthazar Bratt, an admittedly pretty well conceived character who falls flat through the course of the film, having only two or three villainous tricks at his disposal, and there’s sadly little utilization of the multitude of voices he does for Comedy Central’s South Park, and no nod to the irony that this frequently R-Rated public figure is confined within the boundaries of this G-rated role. Once again the earlier movies did a better job utilizing actors like Jason Segel and Benjamin Bratt, but with Gru so far removed from his initial villainous roots, there’s no need for another supervillain rivalry to take center stage. This is also a franchise that lives and dies upon the utilization of its overly cartoonish supporting characters, the minions, who sadly remain confined to a subplot that takes up only a fifth of the film and resolves with no friction at all.

Having said all that, I have do admit, what Despicable Me 3 does well, it does to the benefit of the movie overall. The animation and art style is amazing, and while this still remains a film centered on sight gags and slapstick, every scene that utilizes it is creative and very funny. Also, what this film seems to lack in plot is redeemed by the fact that for most of its run, there are scenes that rival even the most high profile action movie, particularly a scene in the second act where Gru and Dru infiltrate Bratt’s 80’s themed secret lair.

While it’s unfortunate to say that Despicable Me 3 is the weakest film in the series so far, I would be pretty hard pressed to state that it is ultimately a bad film. Many people will see within it much of the polish and charm that has existed here since it became a sleeper hit in 2010. It probably pulls slightly better duty as an extension of the previous films, than a totally solid film in its own right. 

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