Movie Review # 691: Despicable Me 3 (2017)

And now for my review for the third Despicable Me film, Despicable Me 3, before I go see the fourth installment, and give you all that review!

Plot: When a super villain, and former 1980s Hollywood star named Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) attempts to steal a rich diamond that will help him enable a giant robot to destroy people in Hollywood for cancelling his show, Evil Bratt, it is up to Gru (Steve Carrell), his wife, Lucy (Kristen Wiig), and a twin brother of Gru’s that he now comes to find out about named Dru (also Steve Carrell) to find him, and put an end to his diabolical schemes once, and for all.

Now, for those of you who read my reviews, when I was just posting them on Facebook years ago, and was not as familiar with how to get a blog set up, you may recall that I gave this film, and sequel, a B-, yes? Would that be the case now? Well, let’s just talk about how this sequel works, and doesn’t work, shall we?

First of all, let’s go with the cons. First of all, again, there were some scenes that were rather unnecessary, most notably a scene in the beginning that, though an inappropriate scene that was thankfully censored, probably still wasn’t exactly the best for kids. Also, some of the newer characters, like Gru’s twin brother, weren’t all that interesting. Additionally, the film had some cliches that seemed to make the film a little too predictable at times. Now yes, I understand that movies are predictable to one degree, or another, especially animated ones, even if some of those have had plot twists from time to time, but still. Anyway, this, in turn, basically seemed to cause the writing to not be that great for Despicable Me 3. Finally, some of the ending probably wasn’t the best, and made it look like some things that were resolved by the end actually weren’t.

But now, let’s talk about the pros for the movie, shall we? First of all, how could you not love some of the soundtrack of this film, especially for those of us that grew up in the 1980s, and may find ourselves having an appreciation at least for any of the songs from that era that played during this movie? The animation is also really great. In fact, that aspect has probably gotten better with each of these films that have come out over the past decade, or more. Also, once again, how could you not like the comedic lines, or the comedic characters, be it the Minions, or any of the other characters that do hilarious stunts in this film? But probably one of the better aspects of Despicable Me 3 was how Lucy’s character was handled in this film. I mean after the second film, she was one of the characters that seemed to grow as one as this film progressed. I mean the way that she would try to find creative ways of being a good mother to Margo, Edith, and Agnes, or would lend a helping hand whenever necessary, how could you not like her character even more this time around? Balthazar Bratt, the villain, also was really cool with his stunts, and how he would carry out his schemes. And, finally, the climax was really cool, and, at points, intensive as well.

And that’s my review for Despicable Me 3. Honestly, this one can be a bit of a mixed bag, with there being quite a few pros, but quite a few cons as well. Still, despite that, this sequel is still a decent one. If you haven’t seen Despicable Me 3 yet, you’ll still enjoy it. Just maybe don’t set your expectations too high.

Final Grade: B-