Ok, so sue me. I’m a sucker for cartoons, and this one hit on all cylinders. It’s funny, sad, heartwarming, and did I say funny? All the misadventures of a Spy vs. Spy episode, some great laughs for the adults in the audience, but plenty for the kids.

I saw this in 3D and it really worked for this movie (especially the fun in the closing credits). I saw it in a full theater with a mix of little kids and their parents. It’s funny to hear the adults laugh by themselves and then to hear the kids laugh all by themselved, but the best is when everybody laughs at the same time.

The voice actors were pretty good, although the weakest thing is the fake accent Steve Carell tries to pull off which doesn’t quite cut it. I couldn’t help thinking of Michael Scott of the Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company trying to act a fool, instead of believing it was Gru, but if you can get over this. But you are definitely going to enjoy yourself. I was glad I paid the extra for the 3D glasses. It was well worth it.

The movie reminds me a lot of Up! but of course it’s not quite in that league, but it has similarities. (sweet kids, crotchety old man) . All in all Depicable Me made for a fine HOT Saturday Afternoon in the air conditioning of the theater. Great movie!

==Written by Ed Goettman ==

==From: Ed's Review Dot Com (www.edsreview.com)==

Despicable Me is a compelling animated comedy about an aging supervillain's falling popularity at the hands of a younger supervillain and three young orphan girls. Gru is a true, bad-to-the-core evildoer who's earned the title of the world's No. 1 supervillain. But when young upstart Vector steals the Pyramid of Giza, Gru's status suddenly sinks to No. 2. Gru counters his fall by speeding up his plan to shrink and steal the moon, enlisting the help of his army of minions and the elderly Dr. Nefario, but a lack of funding and the difficulties involved in stealing the needed shrink-ray gun threaten to derail everything. Adopting three young orphan girls is an unlikely, but seemingly effective means to further Gru's evil mission, but Gru quickly discovers that caring for three young girls is more work, and distraction, than he could ever have anticipated. What unfolds is an unexpected shift in attitude that will forever change the lives of Gru, Vector, and all three young girls. A visually appealing film produced by Chris Meledandri (Ice Age, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, and Horton Hears a Who), Despicable Me is full of weirdly shaped characters and settings that are somehow a perfect fit for Sergio Pablos's story. What's especially refreshing is that in this film, 3-D effects are used skillfully and effectively: even when the effects are exploited for comic reasons, they don't become a distraction, as is all too common in many recent movies. The film is full of corny banter and silly antics that inspire plenty of spontaneous laughter, and the minions, while not the best-developed characters, sure are comical. Ultimately, there's also a wholesome message about following one's heart. Steve Carell is the perfect villain-gone-soft in his role as Gru, Jason Segal is quite funny as Vector, and Julie Andrews makes a surprising appearance as Gru's very un-motherly mom. The story isn't new, the humor is relatively juvenile and somewhat forgettable, and it's no Toy Story 3, but Despicable Me celebrates silliness in a way that's satisfying and highly entertaining. (Ages 6 and older) --Tami Horiuchi