The Despicable Me films are irrepressibly cute, in a clever, wacky kind of way, and this movie (the fifth in the franchise, not counting a few shorts) continues the tradition. It’s as clever and fun as the others, and to a very young person or a true aficionado of the animated feature format, this might prove meaningful. My own feeling is that these crazy animated comedies are fun to watch but pretty darn forgettable. I doubt if I’ll ever spend more than a few minutes ever thinking about this movie again once I finish this review.
As directed by Kyle Balda, Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val, the story takes place with Gru (voice of Steve Carell) not quite twelve years old and dreaming of supervillainy. He already has his loyal henchmen, the Minions (voice of Pierre Coffin), but he wants to join the Vicious 6, the top criminal group that has just eliminated its former leader Wild Knuckles (voice of Alan Arkin). Gru’s audition goes badly, but changes the lives of every criminal in that room, as things unfold. Ultimately the film is about feeling connected to others and the need for community, even one of misfits or oddities.
People love the chattering yellow Minions, as evidenced by the existence of five films (plus shorts) in which they appear. That’s fine; it’s just not my thing. I find them barely amusing, even when they are pursuing in-jokes that fly over the kiddies’ heads but are squarely aimed at the adults in the audience. I appreciate the presence of such in-jokes and references to movies like Rocky and Jaws; I happened to be wearing one of my Jaws t-shirts to this screening and a woman in the audience thought it was great that the movie referenced a shirt that I happened to be wearing. So I got that out of it.
It is undeniable that a great deal of ingenuity, cleverness and cuteness is invested into these movies. How could one not appreciate that it casts Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Danny Trejo, as well as Taraji P. Henson and Lucy Lawless, as voices of the Vicious 6? Even so, they have little to do and everything is overshadowed by the ridiculously spectacular transformation the Minions undergo in the big flashy climactic showdown. Sorry, but I just don’t care very much. ☆ ☆. 6 August 2022.