Despicable Me

Despicable Me

"Being a villain doesn't mean you have to be bad."

Genre:	Animated Family Comedy Crime
Directed By:	Pierre Coffin Chris Renaud
Produced By:	Chris Meledandri John Cohen Janet Healy
Written By:	Cinco Paul Ken Daurio Sergio Pablos
Starring:	Steve Carell Jason Segel Russell Brand Kristen Wiig Miranda Cosgrove Will Arnett Julie Andrews
Distributed By:	Universal Pictures
Release Date:	June 19, 2010 (MIFF) July 9, 2010 (United States)
Runtime:	95 mins
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Budget:	$69 million
Box Office:	$543.1 million
Franchise:	Despicable Me
Prequel:	Minions^AMW (chronologically)
Sequel:	Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me is a 2010 CGI animated family crime comedy film. The film was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin and it stars Steve Carrell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Will Arnett and Julia Roberts.

Plot

A man who delights in all things wicked, supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) hatches a plan to steal the moon. Surrounded by an army of little yellow minions and his impenetrasble arsenal of weapons and war machines, Gru makes ready to vanquish all who stand in his way. But nothing in his calculations and groundwork has prepared him for his greatest challenge: three adorable orphan girls (Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fisher) who want to make him their dad.

Why It Rocks

The idea for a movie about a villain who has a change of heart is very original and creative.
The movie's script is very entertaining and well-written, as it has some pretty funny quotes.
All the characters are likable and fun, especially for Gru and three orphan kids.
The humor is hilarious and creative, even some of the bathroom humor is funny, for example Gru's plan.
The animation (even when it is produced in CGI) is pretty good, especially considering it was the first movie by Illumination Entertainment.
Many of the film's actions scenes are quite amazing to watch, especially the scene when Gru steals the shrinking ray.
The vocal performances are very fantastic and quite amazing as everyone brings a great job of their character.
Gru is a sympathetic character and his motivations for being a villain are understandable.
The Minions can make you laugh in most of the scenes, and their relationship with Gru and his adopted daughters is very heartwarming.
The relationship with Gru and the orphan girls is one of the cutest and emotional moments of the film.
Many of the other emotional scenes are pretty wholesome.
A lot of Pharrell Williams songs are very astounding, some of them are "Fun, Fun, Fun", "Prettiest Girls" and "My Life" by Robin Thicke.
Heitor Periera's score in the movie is very vivid and awesomely moving.
One of the orphan girls, Agnes is absolutely adorable.
"I will stuff you all in the crust"
Vector is a really hilarious villain who has very memorable lines.

Bad Qualities

The scatological humor can be a little annoying at times.
Gru is very unlikeable and cruel at first.
Miss Hattie and the carnival barker are also very unlikeable characters.
The minions (despite being comic reliefs) can get annoying at times.
Some confusing plot-holes, like why didn't Gru dress up minions and get them to deliver the cookies instead of adopting the girls.

Reception

Box office

Released on July 9, 2010, in the United States, Despicable Me opened at the number one spot at the box office and pulled in $56.3 million, making it the third-biggest opening grossing for an animated film in 2010 behind Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter. In its second weekend, the film dipped 42% to second place behind Inception with $32.8 million earned. The film earned $251,513,985 in North America while in Worldwide earned $543,113,985.

Critical response

Despicable Me received positive reviews from critics. The film currently holds an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 194 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10 and a critic consensus that says "Borrowing heavily (and intelligently) from Pixar and Looney Tunes, Despicable Me is a surprisingly thoughtful, family-friendly treat with a few surprises of its own". Nowadays, Despicable Me is considered one of the most popular films for today's children, partly thanks to the Minions and their antics.

Awards

It was nominated in The Golden Globes, the BAFTA and the Critic's Choice Awards for Best Animated Film and also being nominated for Annie Awards losing all for Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon, despite that, it won a Kids Choice Awards for Favorite Animated Movie.