Despicable Me 3 movie review: The film essentially revolves around a worn-out TV star of the 1980s
Despicable Me 3 movie director: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin
Despicable Me 3 movie voice cast: Steve Carell, Trey Parker, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Diana Gaier, Nev Scharrel
Despicable Me 3 movie rating: 2 stars
It’s hard to see what Despicable Me 3 is getting at, apart from giving Gru (still voiced by Steve Carell) an expanding family that now includes a long-separated twin, in long, blond hair and full-white ensemble. In the process, the Minions have now been pushed almost completely out of the frame, making them totally superfluous despite still getting the largest laughs.
The film essentially revolves around a worn-out TV star of the 1980s, Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), who continues to bear a grudge at the way his show was phased out and has taken to stealing. He also has a long-running rivalry with Gru, which is unexplained apart from the fact that Gru is now part of the Anti-Villain League. Bratt steals a pink diamond from under Gru’s nose, and Gru gets fired as a spy because of it, making him eager for revenge.
But that’s only part of what Despicable Me 3 is about. There is the twin, and there is Gru’s wife Lucy’s (Kristen Wiig) attempts to woo over his daughters, and the two worlds seldom meet. Carell voices both Gru and the twin Dru, who wants to become a super-villain as their dad once was, but the film has just too many things going to stick to what could have been an interesting relationship. Nor is there enough of the warmth between Gru and his daughters that made the heart of the other two Despicable Me films.
The film instead relies on humour and poor visual gags to fill the gaps. And when these run up short, the fact that Despicable Me is essentially on the same page since the first film is more and more obvious.
