Few reasons to go bananas over poor third instalment

Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) are fired from the Anti-Villain League (AVL) by new head honcho Valeria Da Vinci (Jenny Slate). The couple share the bad news with adopted daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Nev Scharrel).

In the midst of this upheaval, Gru (right) discovers the family history spun by his bespectacled mother Marlena (Julie Andrews) is a fabrication. He learns about a twin brother called Dru (Carell again), who was spirited away by the old man following an acrimonious divorce.

The siblings reunite just in time to witness the rise of former child star turned master thief Balthazar Bratt

(Trey Parker).

Co-directed by Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda and

Eric Guillon, Despicable

Me 3 is a pick ‘n’ mix of half-formed ideas, crudely stitched together with flimsy subplots lacking momentum.

The third chapter relies heavily on googly-eyed yellow sidekicks the Minions, and there are fleeting giggles involving the stooges and their high-pitched lingo of Esperanto meets gobbledygook.

Human protagonists are a drab bunch by comparison, even with the introduction of a new arch villain, who is stuck in an Eighties time warp, necessitating a soundtrack laden with bygone gems including Take On Me and Into The Groove.

Solid vocal performances can’t energise a faltering script and narrative detours involving Agnes’s search for a real-life unicorn and Margo’s acceptance of Lucy as her mother don’t merit the screen time.