May 13, 2011

Movie Review: Despicable Me

I love a good movie review. But I generally don't appreciate the opinions of professional critics. I think it's because most of my life I was watching kids' movies, and critics just don't care about kids' movies. Anyways, to stimulate my critical thinking, I'm going to start reviewing movies. Hopefully this will be helpful to anyone who also appreciates a good movie review, and wants an opinion coming from someone similar to them (NOT a 50-year old secular man).
First up: Despicable Me! (This movie is computer animated & rated PG.) First off, I will just say, I thought this movie rocked. It was solid the whole way through. You know the classic movies? The ones that you get really into, recite lines from, feel warm at the end, and remember forever? Yeah they don't make those anymore. Well, they rarely do. I think the 90's was the era of classic movies, and Hollywood has moved on from that time. Why do I think that? Maybe it's because movies are more meaningful when you're younger and now I am too analytical. Or maybe it's because all the main thing producers care about now is how good the graphics are. The script goes out the window because the budget is all about how good the scenery looks. There are two things that make a good movie. One is the plot. Wow, that seems kind of obvious. Despite how obviously instrumental the plot is to making a good movie, in so many movies recently the plot has just fallen apart. Critical. The second is character development. You can not have a good movie without character development. After watching a movie that has little character development, some people might argue it was still a good movie. I will disagree. If you don't feel connected to a central character, how can you care about the story? I have seen movies recently where I didn't even know who the main character was, or if we were supposed to think he was the protagonist or the antagonist. Bad. You can't have a good movie without a solid plot and well-developed characters. Secondary to these categories that separate a good movie from a great movie are the script and the acting. Bad lines and bad acting ruin a movie, but great writing and great acting really make a movie stand out.
So, let's move on to the movie of choice: Despicable Me.

Plot:
The story is about a villain who wants to become the greatest villain of all time. His motives are to please his mother, who has cut him down since childhood and never been impressed by his success or dreams. His goal is to steal the moon, and his scheme is to use three orphan girls to get what he wants. His enemy is another villain vying for the same plan.
My attention was immediately captured in the first scene. The bad guy walks around town doing his bad thing with a bad guy song playing in the background. The story is told well. There is no confusion at any point about what is going on, there are no gaps - it moves well, and you are always curious about what will happen next. Excellent. The plot was interesting, and wrapped up well. I watched the movie twice, and I was just as interested the second time as I was the first. The idea for the movie was completely novel to me, yet it wasn't so creative that I was blown away. Plot: A

Character Development:
From the first scene, I liked the main character. He was bad, but he wasn't hideously evil. He was nice, but wasn't entirely good. Even though he was a bad guy, you like him. Well done. He wasn't as "villainous" as one might expect, but I personally prefer less scariness and meanness.
The first time I saw the little girls and the antagonist (Vector), I had no idea what role they were going to play in the movie. I like that the first view of them develops their character without you already having a tainted view of who they are supposed to be. The little girls acted exactly as you would expect little girls to act. They were annoying, funny, clever, and sweet. They irked me a little bit because they didn't obey the rules, but they were sweet enough that I wasn't just completely frustrated with them.
I feel like I got to know all of the characters. There was nothing missing; I didn't have any burning questions unanswered about why one acted a certain way. They had personalities and lived up to them. I got attached to them so in the end I wanted everything to turn out right. Character Development: A+

Script: I thought this movie was hilarious. The script flowed well, was interesting, had good vocabulary, and wasn't too wordy or too slow. The second time I watched the movie I hadn't remembered any of the jokes; I laughed just as much as the first time. I will be quoting this movie for awhile ("he's nice." "and scary." "like santa!"). A
Acting: Since this was an animated movie, I will just skim this section. The voiceovers are important, but I don't know that much about them. I enjoyed the actors. Steve Carrell in particular was excellent - his Russian accent and jokes were the perfect combo for Gru. Everyone else seemed to be picked for the right roles as well. B+
Cinematography: I wish I had something specific to say. The filmmaking was good - the right things were emphasized at the right time. A
Animation: There was nothing groundbreaking, but I did like the colors and the style of animation (the characters were appealing). B+

Overall, it was great. I got to know everyone, understood what was happening, and was interested throughout. I think this movie was extremely well-made. I would love to own it and watch it again and again on a day I want to laugh or love. Perhaps it will become a new classic.
Despicable Me: A

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