Despicable Me 3 (2017) Reviews

• It's not terrible by any means but the series is starting to fade.

  ofpsmith2017-07-12

  It's a common curse with the third movie in most trilogies (assuming we don't count Minions.) The third movie is usually where it starts to wear off. Such is the case for Despicable Me 3. The movie is average. That's it. It's not great, it's not bad, it's just average. The story is that Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), former 80s child actor turned super villain has eluded capture from Gru (Steve Carell) and Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) for too long, and the new chief of the Anti Villain League isn't happy about it and fires them. Eager to get their jobs back Gru receives word that he has a long lost twin brother named Dru (Carell also) who invites him to his home in a country known as Freedonia (the same country that Groucho Marx ran in Duck Soup). Dru attempts to get Gru back into villainy. Gru manages to resist the urge for a whole 5 minutes. The master plan is to now steal a diamond from Bratt and hopefully be readmitted to the Anti Villain League. Along the way we have numerous sub plots involving Lucy trying to be a good mom, the Minions fed up with lack of crime and going to jail (it's never specified how that happens), Agnes (Nev Scharrel) wanting to find a unicorn after hearing a legend, Bratt wanting to destroy Hollywood in revenge for rejecting him as a teenager, and the relationship between Gru and Dru. In all honesty I think there's more plots than The Dark Knight Rises. This is really the biggest problem. A Despicable Me movie really doesn't need this many plot threads. Most of the time the movie just jumps around to each one and it comes off as being unfocused. Kids will probable be fine with it and it is enjoyable enough, but I don't think it's as good as the other three.

• Not nearly as good as the first two, but kind of fun

  mclong20092017-07-22

  I thought Despicable Me 1 and 2 were great fun, movies that you could watch over and over every few months or so and still laugh. Despicable Me 3 I hardly laughed at all, and can't see myself watching it again anytime soon. That's not to say it wasn't fun. The Minions were kind of funny as usual but the overall plot and script wasn't as witty and charming. Mr. Gru is not really a good guy or villain in this one. The interaction between him and his new found brother provided a few laughs. His new wife tries hard in her new role as mother to Gru's kids, maybe that could have been played up more. I've heard another reviewer say this was an unnecessary sequel, and that's hard to disagree with.

• Made me laugh quite a bit actually

  kz917-12018-01-16

  Enjoyable especially all the 80s jokes! Gru finds out he has a long lost brother mayhem and hilarity ensue. There are also tender moments that touch your heart, the unicorn search was magical. Worth the rental.

• Feels More Like a Sitcom Than a Movie

  bkrauser-81-3110642017-07-09

  As far as disposable sequels to kids films, Despicable Me 3 is pretty much on par with Cars 3 (2017). It's not a particularly memorable film nor can it really hold its own against something like The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) but at least it's not unpleasant. In-fact in may ways Despicable Me 3 is better than the original in that it improves its look-and-feel and provides a decent foil for once in the form of Trey Parker's Balthazar Bratt. Of course it's to the detriment of neutering the refreshing mean-spirited-ness of the original, but hey, at least you still got those Minions am I right? Despicable Me 3 catches Gru (Carell) and newly minted wife Lucy (Wiig) trying and failing to secure the world's largest diamond from the hands of Bratt our flamboyant 80's themed villain. Fired by the new head of the Anti-Villain League (Slate), Gru and Lucy discover he has a twin brother named Dru (also Carell) whom their parents separated at birth. With nothing on their plate, Gru, Lucy and the girls (Cosgrove, Gaier and Scharrel), travel to the Mediterranean coasts of Freedonia to meet Dru. When the family lands in Freedonia, the movie descends into a series of fun but thematically incongruous vignettes. Gru bonds with his brother over Dru's desire to become a villain, Lucy fails, succeeds and fails again to become a mother figure to the three girls, Agnes, the youngest of the three tries to capture a unicorn, Balthazar Bratt sees his plans for world domination come to near-fruition and the Minions...well let's just say they have their own thing going as well. About half of all this busy, busy, business works at least as far as furthering the plot. The fact that none of the film's insanity really coalesces into a compelling whole, only makes the film feel more like a mediocre sitcom episode than an actual movie. Yet as far as inspired moments of slapstick, Despicable Me 3 supplies a little bit more than is to be expected. One highlight involves Gru and Dru driving around the Freedonian countryside in a golden-plated mean machine while police follow while riding literal pigs. Parents will find these comedic bits more amusing than funny but the kids, the kids will be rolling up and down the aisles. And isn't that what this movie is ultimately about? To provide entertainment to children? While I don't necessarily condone families watching kid's films for their own sake (and this one in particular is all over the map as far as messaging), there's not really all that much to object about here. Despicable Me 3 is at its core a thoughtless but entertaining jumble of sights, sounds and goofiness. Thankfully unlike your racist aunt, Illumination Entertainment has not used the Minions for nefarious purposes...at least not yet.

• Despicable Me 3: Inferior but enjoyable

  Platypuschow2018-06-19

  Okay fine I'll admit it I'm a big Despicable Me fan and I love minions, don't judge me! I thought both of the first two Despicable Me movies were fantastic and to a lesser extent enjoyed Minions (2015) so logically I was going to enjoy this, but did I? Well it has the same charm, it has the great voice talent, it has a stellar soundtrack and it has minions! What is there to dislike? Well I don't dislike it but truth be told it's not on par with the other movies, I don't know quite what it was but I just wasn't feeling it this time as a lot of the jokes missed their mark, the minions took a backseat and the twin brother aspect of the plot was a tad weak. Regardless Despicable Me 3 is a lot of fun for all the family complete with lots of jokes that the parents will appeciate and a great retro 80's soundtrack. Being a big South Park fan I really appreciated the work put into this by Trey Parker, he's a multi-talented fella as demonstrated here. The franchise still has life in it and hopefully won't be going away anytime soon. BANANA! The Good: Great soundtrack Same ol'charm Trey Parker The Bad: Story is weaker than previous films Things I Learnt From This Movie: Giant titan mechs can be made by one single person in a matter of days Trey Parker needs more voice work I want a uni-goat! If she doesn't get fluffy back in the next movie I'm rioting.........awkwardly..........by myself