In the impeccably crafted and only slightly predictable animated film “Despicable Me,” the uber-villain Gru plans to steal the Moon, experiences the challenges of single fatherhood, and creates an army of eraser-like creatures in overalls.
The hook-nosed villain Gru, whose childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut have transformed over the years into the idea of stealing the Moon, is forced to enlist the help of children to carry out his grand plan and eliminate a young competitor. In a certain advanced orphanage, he adopts three female orphans – Margo with glasses, Edith in a hat, and Agnes, whose degree of cuteness is comparable only to the kitten from “Shrek.” As it usually happens, the children immediately transform the plans of adults.
Behind the Scenes of Despicable Me
The directorial debut of a person named Coffin and his co-author Reno is made under the auspices of producer Christopher Meledandri, the gray cardinal of American animation, responsible, in particular, for all “Ice Ages,” “Horton Hears a Who!” (2008), and “Robots” (2005). “Despicable Me” (2010) is perhaps the best work of his team: the picture is beautifully drawn (by the way, it makes sense to watch in 3D, especially if you like it when various objects tend to jump out of the screen into the hall), tolerably written, and, most importantly, there is not a single below-the-belt joke, because of which you had to shyly cringe in your seat and cover the children’s ears with your hands during the “Ice Ages.”
Humor and Tone
It is clear that the reason for the change of course was not the sense of proportion of the authors, but the blatant asexuality of the main character, which in turn is dictated by the unwillingness to touch on the topic of pedophilia in any way. The “adult” part here, in addition to the main conflict of single fatherhood, is responsible for a rather harsh black humor (which, one would like to think, we owe to director Coffin).
Final Thoughts
In general, this is a very nice movie – so much so that at some point it turns out to be even too perfect and correct. You can feel the painstaking work of a well-coordinated team of marketers who have thought through every detail to make the film appeal to all categories of citizens. Not that we wanted to see the characters of a children’s cartoon eaten by cannibals or destroyed by a nuclear explosion, but still the picture lacks at least a small imperfection, a little unpredictability, a slight flaw, hooliganism. But no – the minions are small, the children are cute, the villains are potentially kind at heart. Keep in mind: if children are too impressionable, watch the movie yourself first.