Collegiate Times

The thing about the summer blockbuster is that producers and directors try to get their big story out right away and make it as explosive as possible. What they forget is that the story is the most important part of anything they will do. That is the big issue with “Despicable Me:” It becomes more of a tale of “It’s so fluffy!” without leaving having anything to grab onto.

However, who could blame it? Developed by Illumination Entertainment — a newcomer in the world of CGI pictures that’s starting out in the same summer with the blockbuster hit “Toy Story 3,” both the company and directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud had their work cut out for them. While their intentions were good, it’s almost as if they were trying too hard from the film’s beginning, right down to the end with the jabbering of the little minions.

The film steps into the feet of Gru (Steve Carell), a supervillian with an army of yellow Excedrin-looking minions that create bits and pieces of cuteness throughout the film. This doesn’t account for his mother (Julie Andrews), arch-enemy Vector (Jason Segel) and a trio of orphans that arrive on Gru’s doorstep to change a heart he didn’t know he had.

Sounds jam packed, doesn’t it? It is. Especially when you learn that everyone is connected to each other in a hodgepodge of a family feud. Gru has always played second fiddle to Vector and has never received enough love from his mother. This fuels his caper to shrink the moon — all because he never got enough hugs as a child.

It all becomes convoluted in an effort to make people love both the characters and the film. The story bounces from one plot point to another, forgetting what the characters were talking about for a slapstick joke or potty humor. Now understandably, this is for children, but both Pixar and Dreamworks have proven that you can make your movie entertaining and intelligent without killing for a joke.

At the same time, you almost feel angry with yourself for not laughing. You watch the movie, you see the punch lines coming and you begin to giggle at the impending joke or fall, knowing that this is all being tried and tested far too hard. It’s either well-written placement or simply the world that has been created — a world full of overly produced robots, guns bigger than a man’s head and, well, minions — that make it work.

Arguably, the overriding aspect of the film is that there is simply too much and not enough.

Too much overacting from Carell and Segel to allow the story move along, while not enough concrete direction will ultimately be the movie’s downfall. Is it something to watch once? Sure, why not? If it has something to give you to remember and hold onto is a completely different story.

A version of this article appeared in the Jul 15 issue of the Collegiate Times.