DESPICABLE ME — ★★1/2 — Animated feature starring the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel and others; shown in 2-D and 3-D; rated PG (violence, vulgarity, slurs); in general release
"Despicable Me" has the misfortune of being the first animated feature released after Disney-Pixar's "Toy Story 3."
Given the incredible task of living up to that film's standards, it's doomed to fail, no matter how colorful its animation is and how many funny people it has in its voice cast.
However, this movie does a little better in regards to stacking up against other animated features that don't feature "Toy Story" in their title or the Pixar brand name.
It's certainly less low-brow than the various "Shreks," and it has more energy than the lifeless "Ice Ages." And there are some genuine laughs here, even if much of the material is predictable and a little unoriginal.
The film's title refers to Gru (voiced by Steve Carell). He's a would-be supervillain with some serious cash flow problems.
Gru would like to steal the moon, using funds from the local branch of the international villain bank. But most of the money has already gone to fund Gru's younger, more creative nemesis Vector (the voice of Jason Segel).
So Gru plans to take his revenge, using three orphans, Margo (Miranda Hargrove), Agnes (Elsie Fisher) and Edith (Dana Gaier).
He's adopted the three girls and wants to use them — in the guise of cookie-selling Girl Scouts — to get into Vector's lair.
There's a decent kernel of a story, but the filmmakers (who include people involved with the "Ice Age" movies) are too obvious about their intentions. Attempts to balance out the meanness with accompanying cutesiness are pretty clumsy and half-hearted.
On the plus side, the animation designs are pretty good, and Carell ("The Office") sounds like he's having fun.
But his fellow television star Segel ("How I Met Your Mother") isn't nearly as well-matched to his character. His character sounds more sleepy than nerdy.
And the other voice cast members don't really get much to do. That's as true for television veterans Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett and Jack McBrayer as it is for Julie Andrews (a scarcely noticeable presence as the voice of Gru's mother).
"Despicable Me" is rated PG and features animated violent content and imagery (blaster fire, creature and animal attacks, fiery, explosive and vehicular mayhem, child-in-peril elements, as well as slapstick moments), crude humor involving and references to various bodily functions (including flatulence and digestive gags and references), and derogatory language and slurs. Running time: 95 minutes.
e-mail: jeff@desnews.com