Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud Starring: voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove Running Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes Theatrical Release: July 9, 2010 Shop for Despicable Me Merchandise

Plot Summary

In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon (Yes, the moon!) in Universal’s new 3-D CGI feature, “Despicable Me.” (from MovieWeb.com)

Film Review

It’s intriguing how deceiving movie trailers (previews) can be. So far this year, three of the less impressive trailers – for How To Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3, and Despicable Me – have turned out to represent some of the best animated movies to come along in awhile (and some of the best movies this year, period). The most recent, the awkwardly titled Despicable Me (I’d love to hear a little child try to pronounce this one) didn’t look super promising from its hit-and-miss advertisements. However, the truth is quite the opposite as Despicable Me easily joins the aforementioned titles as some of the most fun you’ll have at the movie theater with the family this year.

Despicable Me takes a devious, dark-souled character with aspirations for being the world’s greatest villain named Gru, and teams him with three quirky orphan girls who he meets one day while they’re out trying to sell cookies to raise money for their orphanage. When Gru gets the inspiration to use them to help his dastardly plans of stealing the moon, he finds parenthood an unlikely kink in his ingenious plan. This was one theme that the trailers didn’t divulge in great detail, but it’s quite a huge plot element — the potential greatest villain in the world suddenly finds himself a father — and it stirs up emotions within him he never knew he had. The film then touches on his own childhood a little bit, giving the audience some insight into why Gru may be up to his no-good trickery. But with most of his “evil” ways, we see that he really isn’t all that good at being bad, and this becomes an important lesson in the story that redeems the potentially dark thematics that the title and premise might suggest.

And that lighter tone can be attributed greatly to the ensemble of little yellow overall-suited minions that accompany Gru in his quest. The minions can probably most closely be compared to the three-eyed little green aliens from Toy Story, but are given a lot more character and personality individually. They do, however, cause a lot of mischief, some that might be imitated by children — like poking each other, punching each other in the arm hard, or, in the worst case, photocopying their butts and giggling at the print-out. Still, everything from their look to their voices make all of their scenes highlights of the film. But to Steve Carell’s credit, the comedian does an absolutely fantastic job voicing the lead, Gru. Carell gives the pseudo-super-villain a quirky and believable European accent that makes the character sinister and lovable sometimes simultaneously. Carell puts his usual spunk into the performance and even though it seldom sounds like him, fans of his will still be able to locate the actor’s voice beneath the guise of the accent. Julie Andrews does a nice job as Gru’s mom, while crude comedian Russell Brand (he just starred in the R-rated Get Him To The Greek) is sufficient as Dr. Nefario. Miranda Cosgrove heads up the oldest of the three orphan girls, while little Elsie Fisher voices the smallest orphan, Agnes, who’s positively adorable every time she shows up or says something. Between Agnes, the minions, and Carell as Gru, these ingredients alone help make this a strong and fun film.

Really, the only downside to Despicable Me, in any form, is in the chief villain Vector. He’s supposed to be a big, goofy nerd, but he’s usually more irritating than funny (The “Oh yeaaaah!” that he says in the trailer isn’t funny then, and it isn’t funny by the fourth or fifth time he says it in the movie). Perhaps this is mostly due to Jason Segel (who is most known for crude comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall or I Love You Man) and his vocal performance of the character, as he plays up the nerdy angle, but Vector isn’t one of those villains you love to hate; you’re likely to just hate him.

Ultimately, Despicable Me is very much a pro-family film that injects a lot of heart – unexpectedly, even – into an outrageously silly and therefore fun movie. Despite the dismal title, heart and fun abound in Illumination Entertainment’s freshman release, Despicable Me. It’s fun, it’s silly, and it just might tug at your heartstrings.

By the time our next, and final, Minion Monday rolls around…the pomp and circumstance surrounding the birth of America will have already taken place. So, much like a short-fused rocket, we’re gonna launch Fourth of July with the Minions a bit early.

Send your friends and family some holiday Minion Mail in the form of an explosive eCard, and be sure to check out the other cards available to menace your loved ones with.

Oh, those pesky Minions have taken over the office copy machine and you can upload your own photo to see the Minions giggling at your scarily scanned mug.

If you wish to play around with the Minions Making Copies, go here … then take/upload a photo and share your video on facebook, twitter or via email.

Want to have a sneaky little Minion to call your own? Visit the official Despicable Me facebook page and “like” it, then enter your information for a chance to win the following:

• 12″ desktop Minion
• Official Despicable Me t-shirt
• Pencil with Minion topper

Winners will be randomly chosen on a weekly basis through to the opening of the movie on July 9. Each winner will receive 2 prize packs.

We’ll start this Minion Monday off with the “Minion Maker.” You can personalize your own Minion and share your creation with others. For you soccer fans, currently the wardrobe includes football uniforms coinciding with the World Cup.

Below is the Minion my 9-year-old cranked out:

3-D CGI FEATURE DESPICABLE ME, FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT, OPENS JULY 9

Soundtrack album includes new music by Pharrell, Robin Thicke and others, plus No. 1 classics by The Bee Gees and The Sylvers

Film stars Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Danny McBride, Jack McBrayer and Julie Andrews

NEW YORK, June 15 /PRNewswire/ — Steal the moon? A despicable act… and the obsession of one of the world’s greatest super-villains Gru (Steve Carell) in Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s inaugural animated 3-D CGI feature, Despicable Me, opening July 9th. On July 6th, three days before the film’s opening, Star Trak/Interscope Records will release DESPICABLE ME: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK, featuring new music by Pharrell, Robin Thicke, Destinee & Paris, and others, plus a pair of classics from The Bee Gees (”You Should Be Dancing”) and The Sylvers (”Boogie Fever”).

Surrounded by an army of mischievous little minions and armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays and battle-ready vehicles, Gru vanquishes all who stand in his way. That is, until the day he encounters the immense will of three little girls who look at him and see something that no one else has: a potential Dad. Check out the film’s trailers and a sneak peek at: http://www.despicable.me.

In addition to composing the film’s orchestral score for the DESPICABLE ME: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK, Pharrell also takes the lead on four tracks he wrote and produced, beginning with the title tune, “Despicable Me,” and including “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “Prettiest Girls,” and “Rocket’s Theme.” With superstar Robin Thicke, Pharrell co-wrote and produced “My Life.” In addition to “I’m on a Roll,” by sisters Destinee & Paris (formerly of Interscope’s Clique Girlz), Pharrell also wrote and produced tracks for the film’s mischievous minions (”Minions Mambo”, co-written with Lupe Fiasco), and littlest orphan, Agnes (”The Unicorn Song”). The album is rounded out by two vintage No. 1 disco hits from 1976, by The Bee Gees (”You Should Be Dancing”) and The Sylvers (”Boogie Fever”).

Universal Pictures Presents A Chris Meledandri Production: Steve Carell in Despicable Me, starring Jason Segal, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Will Arnett, Danny McBride, Jack McBrayer and Julie Andrews. The original songs and themes are by Pharrell Williams; the score is by Pharrell Williams and Heitor Pereira. Despicable Me’s editors are Pamela Ziegenhagen-Shefland and Gregory Perler; the production designer is Yarrow Cheney. The 3-D CGI film’s executive producers are Nina Rowan and Sergio Pablos. It is based on story by Sergio Pablos and from a screenplay by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio. The film is produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, John Cohen, and it is directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin. © 2010 Universal Studios. www.despicable.me

DESPICABLE ME: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK – track listing:

1. Despicable Me – Pharrell
2. Fun, Fun, Fun – Pharrell
3. I’m on a Roll – Destinee & Paris
4. Minion Mambo – The Minions
5. Boogie Fever – The Sylvers
6. My Life – Robin Thicke
7. Prettiest Girls – Pharrell
8. Rocket’s Theme – Pharrell
9. You Should be Dancing – The Bee Gees
10. The Unicorn Song – Agnes

SOURCE Interscope Records

RELATED LINKS
http://www.despicable.me

Father’s Day is right around the corner — June 20 to be exact, and as part of this “Minion Monday,” we would like to celebrate all of the wonderful dads out there who actually take time to raise their minions (sometimes referred to as children) in hopes that your life lessons will pave the way as your youngsters navigate through this opportunistic, but complicated life. The guidance of a father or father figure cannot be underestimated.

We salute those who strive to be the best example they can be!

The instructions for “Work It!” are simple, just click on a Minion, then click on its matching ‘silhouette’ to put the little bugger back in its place. No biggie. (Or so I though after round 1). Round 2 was a bit more challenging and by the time I finally got through round 3, I had already slid down from my computer chair and cried tiny puddles of  despicable failure.

But all jokes aside — really, I was joking about crying. WHAT!? I was!! — Work It! is a nice little game that actually rewards players with much needed time bonuses for subsequent rounds based on your previous performance. I even landed a cool Minion desktop wallpaper for my complete mastery last second desperation mouse click on round 3. Who knows what other cool prizes are to be had later in the game, because I’m hilariously confused by all the distractions in round 4.

I will get back on that horse, but for now I need to walk away, let off some steam, regain focus, down a glass of raw eggs, etc.

Do yourself a favor and go try out this great, challenging game

Sure, Steve Carell is the headliner for Despicable Me, but it would be foolish to overlook the enormous amount of comedic talent filling in the gaps. Will Arnett, Russell Brand, Jason Segel and Kristen Wiig among others do their best to keep the film fun and the studio in stitches.

Source(s):
Yahoo! Movies via On Animation

In staying with the inadvertent mobile phone theme of our first Minion Monday, I will provide the portal to grab yourself a free ringtone featuring a mischievous Minion giggle.

Annoying?You betcha!!

But really, don’t ALL ringtones grate on your nerves a bit?

In the spirit of fighting back against those people who walk around sporting default “Calypso” as their tune of choice, go download “Minion Giggle” and be sure to play it loud and proud!