Bad is the New Cool!

Despicable Me: Outrageous and funny, Despicable Me proves that it's true that bad guys have all the fun.

By ARIS ZARIL

As some might say, a superhero may always win... but a supervillian is always cooler! And that is certainly the case in Universal's debut 3D animated flick, Despicable Me. Instead of having a superhero involved, the story instead revolves around Gru (Steve Carrell) an egomaniacal and quirky-accented mad scientist.

Gru has big dreams, especially about being the biggest badass around. But when young rival supervillain Vector makes headlines stealing an Egyptian pyramid, our villain isn't going to just sit around. He plans to outdo his competitor by stealing... (wait for this)... the moon! But to do so he needs a shrink ray, which was stolen from him by Vector. After all attempts prove futile, Gru devises a grand plan to infiltrate Vector's lair that involves adopting three little adorable kids. As you might guess, a supervillain and three kids do not make a good combination, resulting in plenty of hilarious consequences.

Steve Carrell deserves all the credit he gets for Gru's voice. His European, almost Russian accent makes for an interesting character, similar to what Mike Meyers did for Shrek. Gru is undeniably a bad guy, but likeable nevertheless. He bullies kids, wrecks cars and would rather freeze people in a cafe than queue for some hot coffee. But seeing him soften up for the kids shows a different side of him.

The animation in Despicable Me isn't as eye-popping as say, Toy Story 3, but it doesn't try to be. Everything oozes 'cartoonish-cool', especially when it involves Gru, be it his lair, his scene-stealing minions or even his unnecessarily ridiculous ride. 3D is used to good effect here, with plenty of objects coming at you. Arguably the best use of 3D was a scene I have been waiting for ever since 3D entered mainstream cinema; a rollercoaster ride! Viewed from a first-person perspective, you can feel your gut wrenching as you go through loops, dives and falls.

Despicable Me might not be up there with Pixar and DreamWorks just yet, but with this neat first attempt, Universal should be catching up real soon. For escapist fun and a feel good time, this movie could do no wrong.

4.25 Stars