Despicable Me 3 isn’t a classic.
It’s not even the best Despicable Me/Minion movie. But the series makes a ton of money, so of course it needs to be made. The second movie was released four years ago in 2013. We were tided over with Minions in 2015.
The plot is rushed.
The two main character Gru and Lucy are fired from AVL by the new director Valerie Da Vinci, for not capturing the bad guy Balthazar Bratt in the opening scene. Not using the character Valerie Da Vinci for the rest of the movie was mistake. The character was introduced in a silly way, to make her seem like the villain in the movie, but after the firing she is not to be seen anymore in the movie.
While moping around at home, Gru is approached by a strange butler, who introduces himself as working for his brother. The butler porduces evidence that he does in fact have a twin brother. So, yes, in order to create a new character the filmmakers decide to do the whole long lost brother thing. And yes, Steve Carrell plays both characters. It really stretches him as an actor.
Less Minions
For whatever reason, the filmmakers thought it would be good to give the Minions less screen time in this movie. The Minions want to go back to a life of crime. The married-suburban life they have come to find to be boring, especially since he has lost his job. Villainy would pay the bills. But Gru decides to not go into villany and most of the minions leave. There is a subplot where the minions are sent to jail. They end up running the jail, and all of the other inmates are afraid of them. That’s an interesting and funny concept. Don’t miss it by going to the restroom or getting popcorn, it takes about 7 minutes of screen time. It’s the best seven minutes of the movie.
The villain Balthazar Bratt is interesting and silly, played by Try Parker. He is a former child actor whose television show was canceled in the 80s, and then turned to a life of crime. The 80s shtick is fun for the adults in the audience, but The Van Halen, Michael Jackson, references will be lost on most young children. In fact it was the character I enjoyed the most. Which is a shame there were a lot of other very funny and interesting characters that could have gotten more screen time but alas did not.
My daughter laughed and enjoyed most of the movie, which is the real point of the movie. She seemed to enjoy most of the movie.
There is a lot of adventure peril in the movie, especially at the end. My five year old was somewhat upset by the intensity of the final scenes. So this maybe for slightly older kids, but again, know your kid.
The movie does set-up a cliff hanger for Despicable Me 4.
Which I guess should be ready in 2021 at their current pace.
But by that time, I don’t think my daughter will care.