Despicable Me had me at "It's so fluffy!" then add those unintelligible yellow Minions. Voila! We get a charming, fun, sentimental, family-friendly adventure film.
Steve Carell is Gru, a super-villain with Mommy issues (Julie Andrews voiced his mother). With a strange Eastern European accent and a physical resemblance to Danny DeVito's Penguin, he hatches a plan to steal the moon to show up rival baddie Vector (Jason Segel).
Behind every hero/antihero is a technological wizard, in this case, hard-of-hearing Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand). And of course, no self-respecting scoundrel would find himself without the aforementioned Minions to do his bidding. (I would love to watch the DVD just to see the individual expressions and actions of each one.)
Instrumental to his plot are 3 little girls from the orphanage run by Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig). Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) is the oldest and most pragmatic. Edith (Dana Gaier) is the mischief-maker, while Elsie Fisher voiced the impossibly cute Agnes who just wants a stuffed unicorn toy. Mr. Carell deftly walks the fine line between malevolence and benevolence as he tries to uphold his status as number one evildoer while balancing his duties as a new father. Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett) is the President of the Bank of Evil (according to the movie, the bank formerly known as Lehman Bros.) who has lost faith in Gru's ability to be a menace to society.
The film provides laughs, action, and just the right amount of tender moments as our bad guy learns that world domination is nothing compared to parenthood. Agnes said it best: "It's so fluffy, I think I'm gonna die!" If you can't get enough of those Minions, stay for the credits.
