June 29, 2017



Despicable Me 3 brings the adventures of Gru, Lucy, their adorable daughters—Margo, Edith and Agnes—and the Minions against the villain Balthazar Bratt, a former child star who’s grown up to become obsessed with the character he played in the ‘80s, and proves to be Gru’s most formidable nemesis to date.
Release: June 30, 2017 | Runtime: 96 minutes | Rated: PG
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Ashley

Ashley Bell's Review

Despicable Me 3 brings Gru (Steve Carell) and his family including the minions back to theaters as he continues his switch to heroism being part of the Anti-Villian League. After a battle with a 1980s obsessed villain obsessed with his childhood fame during the 1980s goes wrong, Gru loses his way. Soon after he learns he has a long lost twin brother and their family history of villainsry that leaves him torn between being a family man or return to being a villain.

As a fan of the previous Despicable Me movies and Minions, I expected this movie to live up to its predecessors. After watching I will say this movie is not my favorite of the franchise because it was too choppy and all over the place.

Something I noticed early on was Gru's brother's name was Dru which did not make much sense since Gru's full name is Felonious Gru, making Dru - Dru Gru. Maybe it was supposed to be part of the joke or a nickname yet it was never explicitly said and made it seem not well thought out.

Another thing to note is that the villain Balthazar Bratt (played by Trey Parker of South Park) was so out of place. He was a former child star of a show called Evil Bratt and overly used the catchphrase "I've been a bad boy!" well into his adulthood which was awkward. I get that that was part of the humor around his 80s obsessed personality using weapons like rubic's cube bombs and giant absorbing bubble gum but I feel like his character was lacking and just sort of thrown in.

I was also a little disappointed that the main minions from the previous movies, Kevin, Bob and Stuart were basically replaced with a new forerunning minion named Mel. I was excited to see the trio back and was let down when Mel took over and led the minions to demand returning to a life of crime.

I will say that the soundtrack was great as usual with music from Pharrell of course and an added bonus of popular 80s music thanks to Evil Bratt. The later music added to the comedy effect of how out of place he was and had the audience humming along. There was even music from the rap group Migos in a scene where a tough guy is trying to blast his music to annoy Gru which was hilarious.

As always this movie will tug on your heartstrings a bit because of Gru's soft spot for his girls and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) trying to figure out where she fits in as a mom. Even more heart tugging moments come from the youngest daughter Agnes and her unwavering love for unicorns even though no one has the heart to tell her about their imaginary existence.

Even though the movie did not reach the level of laughs or heartfelt moments, it still had its moments. If you are a fan of the minions or Despicable Me franchise I would definitely go see it and kids will love all of the silliness it has to offer.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5