Despicable Me 3 is double the fun when Gru meets his twin brother Dru

Movie Title: Despicable Me 3

Grade: B

Rating: PG, 90 minutes

In a Nutshell: This is the 3rd installment in the Despicable Me franchise (4th if you count Minions). It’s not as good as the first two, but it’s still silly fun for families.

The detailed animation is absolutely outstanding. The movements, colors, textures, voices, water, and facial expressions are incredible. The physical humor is adorable.

Uplifting theme:

Family

Kindness
Imagination

Things I liked:

I’m a twin, so I was excited to see Gru’s twin. If you’re one too, be sure to go to the annual “Twins Days Festival” in Twinsburg, Ohio at least once in your lifetime. It’s awesome and hilarious. Steve Carell has always done an excellent job with Gru’s lovable accent and now he adds a double who has a voice that is similar, yet different. Well done.
The 80’s villain “Balthazar Bratt” voiced by Trey Parker is really funny. I love his dance moves retro style. Watching him do aerobics on that exercise ball made me laugh out loud. Complete with a Michael Jackson cassette tape and bubblegum-launching shoulder pads, he steals every scene he is in. I love the detail of his bald spot. Dance battle!
Pharrell Williams did most of the music, making for a foot-tapping soundtrack. The cutest musical moment for me was when the minions sing “Papa Mama Loca Pipa” in the “Sing” competition.
I love Jenny Slate’s voice and think she’s perfect in animated movies.
The lovely Julie Andrews gives us a cameo voice talent of Gru’s mom.
Other voice talents include Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, and the SNL favorite Kristen Wiig.
The Cheese Festival had some fun features, like that slide grater people went down on a chunk of giant cheese. Ha ha
I’d like a magical unicorn to help me do math too.

Things I didn’t like:

As a mom, I don’t appreciate that the advertising tagline is “It’s good to be bad.” Really? That’s what you want to teach our kids? One of the Minions holds up a sign that says, “Be bad!”
Some themes could have gone much deeper. Instead, there are a lot of story lines going on, so the movie just doesn’t have time to explore them all.
The movie never reaches a truly emotional moment like Pixar is so brilliant at doing.
You’ll chuckle, and maybe even a lot, but probably not belly-laugh.
The finger-snapping Minions are still cute, but moving dangerously close to the annoying Jar Jar Binks status. In fact, they get crude and violent in this film. Not cool.

Funny lines:

“Heist music!” – Balthazar Bratt
“Dance fight!” – Balthazar Bratt
“Son of a Beta Max!” – Balthazar
“I saw a unicorn once.” – guy in a bar

“Was it fluffy?” – Margo (Miranda Cosgrove)

“It was so fluffy I thought I was gonna die.” – guy

“Sqeeeeeeee!” – Margo
* “Yes, Molly Ringwald. I will take you to the prom.” – Balthazar Bratt

Tips for parents:

You see Gru’s naked back side.
The minions stick out their tongues and say, “Pffffth” often. Fair warning: your little ones may think that’s hilarious and want to imitate it. They’re also going to want to hunt for a real unicorn. Squee!
Animated violence and destruction.

Need to catch up on the first 3 films in the series? You can find them cheap on Amazon, just in time for Amazon’s annual Prime Day!
Despicable Me

Despicable Me 2

Minions