Despicable Me {Movie Review & Giveaway}

Sometimes I feel cool. It doesn’t happen all that often but when it does happen it is sweet. This past weekend I had that dang I’m kinda cool feeling when my family got the chance to watch a pre-screening of the new 3D CGI movie, Despicable Me. This is my first opportunity to see a movie before it is open to the public. And don’t steal my thunder, I AM cool even if my kids are too young to realize it yet.

Synopsis:

In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden deep beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by an army of tireless, little yellow minions, we discover Gru (Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon (Yes, the moon!) in Universal’s new 3-D CGI feature, Despicable Me.

Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad.

One of the world’s greatest super-villains has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.

Trailer

I hate reviews that contain spoilers or tell so much about the film you wonder if you still need to see it. I think the trailers have done a great job of showing you enough without giving away too much. So instead of doing a complete play by play of the movie, I’ll try to keep my thoughts general so as not to ruin any surprises!

Special Effects

I have to admit (a bit embarrassingly) that my husband and I hadn’t yet seen a movie in 3D before. Our boys are just getting to the age of watching movies in the theater and we don’t get a chance to see them ourselves often. Let me tell you the 3D was A-W-E-S-O-M-E. My husband kept joking afterward that if you had never seen a movie in 3D before you can just go to see this one and have all the cool tricks covered in a single movie. Favorites included a long skinny balloon being blown up which appeared like it was coming right at the audience, an apple being squeezed where the juice and bits fly out of the screen and a fun rollercoaster scene that really makes you feel like you are riding alongside the characters. The CGI animation was amazing as well so I highly recommend seeing this in the theater for that alone. I was pleasantly surprised that my young boys did a good job of keeping their 3D glasses on, although a kid sized version would have been easier for them to keep up on their face.

Characters

Steve Carrell does a fantastic job as Gru. The unique accent Carrell gives Gru reminds me of what Mike Meyers did for Shrek. It is memorable and makes an unlikely hero seem more likeable somehow. It seems wrong but even though I know I wasn’t supposed to like Gru (at least to start) I found myself laughing at his antics from the very beginning. His day to day frustrations match the average person’s but the way in which he deals with them is way over the top. What Gru does is what we all wish we could do but never would. He struggles with being thought as a failure as a villain and feelings of inadequacy, especially from his mother, played by Julie Andrews. Gru is a completely relateable character who has just gone on the wrong path. It is enjoyable to watch him grow as a character. Seeing him read stories to the girls is so funny and heartwarming at the same time.

The three girls, Margo (played by Miranda Cosgrove), Edith and Agnes are so adorable and their need of a parent really tugs at the hear.  Without getting into too much detail, I did leave wishing I knew more about their back story and how they arrived at their situation in the movie.  Being a parent,  I can laugh at their antics and can see my own children in many of their actions.  The youngest, Agnes will crack you up with her love of unicorns.

And of course how I not mention the minions?  They provide a lot of comic relief and are scene stealers. I thought I might find them annoying but actually they are very lovable and sweet characters. It doesn’t take very long into the movie before you realize they aren’t exactly what they seem.

Overall Thoughts

If I had to rate this movie I would give it 3 out of 4 stars.  We had plenty of laughs during the movie and my boys can’t stop talking about the minions. Even with a couple of holes within the storyline we left with a smile on our face. The memorable characters and special effects really make this movie and it has a good underlying message. I would recommend seeing this one in the theater to enjoy the 3D!

See it

Despicable Me hits theaters July 9, 2010 and is sure to be a blockbuster hit this summer you don’t want to miss!

{ Giveaway }

I have a Despicable Me Prize Pack to give to TWO of my readers. Each winner will receive a youth shirt, youth hat, moo-can (it really moos!), pencil with minion topper, balloon and minion ink stamp.

MAIN ENTRY: Tell me if you plan to go see this movie and who you would take if you did!

Want more entries? (Don’t deny it, this is  so much fun!) After answering my question do any of the following and leave a comment telling me what you did. Each is worth one entry unless otherwise noted. Your comment is your entry so please leave the appropriate number of comments for each extra entry.

-Like Despicable Me on Facebook
-Leave a comment on their Facebook wall & tell them I sent you
-Follow Universal Pictures on twitter
-Follow my blog
-Subscribe to my feed in a reader or by email
-Like Baby Loving Mama on Facebook
-Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway

Check out a Despicable Me movie review & win a prize pack from the movie! @babylovingmama http://bit.ly/bCKXe9 #giveaway PLS RT!

-Add my button to your blog
-Blog about this contest and link back here and to Despicable Me (3 entries)

This contest will end on 7/15/10 at 11:59 pm CST. U.S. residents only. The winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to winning notification email before I draw another winner or do a live giveaway.

Disclosure: I received samples for the purpose of this review . This has no bearing on my completely honest review above and was not influenced by any type of monetary compensation. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with these products are my own and yours may differ.