Story Girl is hosting a Hero week this week, and I thought I'd throw my two cents in with a character review of Despicable Me (in celebration of Despicable Me 2). I'll be the first to admit that, when it comes to Dreamworks movies, I'm initially very skeptical. I mean, the company's no Pixar right? Well, sure, but lately I've felt that Dreamworks has been outpacing the Pixar powerhouse (How to Train your Dragon anyone?). Despicable Me is certainly not on par with Toy Story or Finding Nemo, but with that being said, as far as heartwarming stories go, it's hard to beat this one.
First there's the movie's protagonist, the not-so-super villain Gru. Gru desperately wants to be one of the best baddies there is, but compared to recent developments in the criminal world, his villainy is pretty small scale. It's always fun to love a bad guy, and its even more fun when, deep down, you're pretty sure that the bad guy isn't so bad after all. Gru gets some pretty adorable character development as he makes the transition from aspiring super villain to dad.
Margot is pretty great. She's not may favorite character, but she's a wonderful big sister to Edith and Agnes. She's also not afraid to call Gru out when he's a terrible person, which is helpful. Also, she's wearing a Lorax shirt, which I just now noticed, and that's pretty boss.
Edith is pretty hilarious. For a girl who wears a lot of pink and does ballet she's pretty tough. I think of all the sisters she has the least screen time, but I do hope we get to know her better in the second movie.
AGNES!!!! She was my absolute favorite. If anyone could melt Gru's heart it was this kid. She's so sweet and adorable, and totally has one of the best lines in the whole movie. She's one of those kids that you wish you could know (like Calvin and Hobbes, but in a good way).
Gru's Minions were pretty fantastic too. I loved them. They are responsible for the movie's cruder humor, but I honestly didn't think that it detracted from the story at all. Plus, they just get themselves in to ridiculous situations, which is great.
I didn't want to watch this movie when it came out, my family made me. I swear to you I've cried every time I've watched it since. It's incredibly adorable, and even if it isn't as great as Pixar, whenever I feel sad I'd rather watch this than a Pixar movie. True story. I'm not sure what that says about me, but there you go. :)
I still haven't seen this, but it does look really sweet and funny. One of these days!
ReplyDeleteNice review :-)
Thanks :) And you definitely should watch it, it's pretty cute!
DeleteWe watched it a while back, but my mom (and me, to tell the truth;) really didn't like the crude humor..however, it did have several enjoyable parts (And AGNES!! And the MINIONS!! IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GOING TO DIE!!!) and now that we have clearplay I'm hoping maybe we'll get to watch the second movie :) I agree, I'm always a little wary of Dreamworks films, but they have done some good ones- like How to Train Your Dragon :D
ReplyDeleteI imagine that it would be even better on ClearPlay. Also, Despicable Me is cute, but How to Train your Dragon is fantastic. It's literally one of my all time favorites :)
DeleteI still need to watch the Despicable Me, since the sequel and the original have gotten so many great reviews, I would probably enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI agree about How to Train your Dragon though, it is my favorite DreamWorks film. By the way, have you seen the trailer for the sequel? It looks great! Here is a link if you are interested.
http://jandjproductions1809.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-to-train-your-dragon-2-trailer.html
Also great review, I'm following your blog now.
-James
Thanks so much for following my blog! I really appreciate it :) Despicable Me is, in my opinion, worth watching. I haven't seen the sequel yet, but I've heard really good things about that one too.
DeleteHow to Train Your Dragon became one of my favorite movies ever. I'm also super excited about the sequel. Also, thanks for posting the link, I didn't know there was a trailer out yet :)