Key elements missing from Despicable Me 3
“Despicable Me 3” comes across less like the latest animated tale in the popular franchise about the once evil Gru (Steve Carell) and more like a made-for-television movie rushed into production to introduce a new TV series.
This third production in the series lacks the warmth and fun of the original 2010 film and comes nowhere close to having the offbeat antics of the second film that hit theatres in 2013.
As a bonus, the sequel solidified the fame of the most entertaining group of yellow-skinned characters this side of “The Simpsons” in the Minions.
The third film is more like a series of different vignettes more intent on introducing new characters than capitalizing on what made the first two movies work.
Among the new players is Dru (also voiced by Carell), Gru’s longlost twin brother, who ends up being more of a detractor than a participant. At least the new villain, Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) brings a larcenous energy to the production played out against an ’80s soundtrack that will keep parents from nodding off.
“Despicable Me 3” starts strong with Gru and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) losing their jobs as crime fighters. They fall out of favour because they are unable to capture Bratt, a former child actor who has become the menacing person he played on TV when he was younger.
From his mullet to his dance movies, he’s evil.
The jobless Gru agrees to meet with his twin, a wealthy pig farmer in Freedonia.
After coming together, Dru’s efforts to convince Gru to return to his evil ways to keep the family tradition alive lead to a plot to steal the world’s largest diamond that Bratt has taken.
The majority of the film looks at Gru’s battle between going back to his old life or embracing the new loving world he has created.
Writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio — the team behind the other “Despicable” movies and the Minion’s solo film effort — fail to focus on the two elements that made the original movies work.
The first movie drew strength from how a trio of little girls could touch the heart of an evil genius. Dealing with family issues as seen through the eyes of very different people created captivating emo-
tional moments.
This emotional thread was balanced with the absurdity of the Minions. They quickly became movie icons with their gibberish speaking and pill-shaped bodies.
Any time the first movie got headed down an emotional path, the Minions were there to create belly laughs.
Those elements continued in “Despicable Me 2” with more focus on the family and a dramatic rise in Minions — good and bad. The balance of family and fiends was perfect. All that balance is gone. There is very little interaction between Gru and the girls as his focus is the new annoying brother. Tender moments are the exception this time and serve more as a reminder of what is missing. Then there’s the lack of Minions. When Gru initially balks at returning to being bad, the Minions walk out.
After crashing a taping of a reality singing competition show, the Minions end up behind bars where they are the most choreographed group of prisoners since Elvis Presley in “Jailhouse Rock.”
Every time the movie goes back to the Minions, the entertainment value goes up.
The problem is the Minions are reduced to being bit players. Even their evil boss, Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) has been written out with little fanfare.
Directors Eric Guillon and Kyle Balda keep the pace fast and the visuals bright.
But there are so many detours from what are the strengths of the movie, the overall production comes across like the bubble gum bubbles Bratt uses as weapons.
It’s pretty and sweet but there’s little inside.
In the end, “Despicable Me 3” has twice the brothers but half the fun.