If calling "Despicable Me" the first animated film from the Judd Apatow troupe scares you off, consider it something of a misnomer.
Yes it's accurate, with Apatow pals Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Jack McBrayer ("30 Rock, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"), Mindy Kaling ("The Office"), and Ken Jeong ("The Hangover") all lending voices, but don't think that means you're in for a heaping of sex jokes, male frontal nudity or gratuitous birth-canal shots.
No, this film is (almost) wholly appropriate for the little ones, with less innuendo than even most films of its ilk.
What it has more of is actual 3D, and it's easily the best use of 3D animation of this new spate of extradimensional cinema, and probably the best overall use of 3D in any film since "Avatar."
Looking like a less-gregarious Uncle Fester right down to his squat bald pate and fondness for turtlenecks, our hero/villain Gru (Carell) is a typical cartoon baddie, only without a nemesis.
He is obsessed with stealing things, the larger and more prominent, the better. He boasts that he once stole the Statue of Liberty (though it was Lady Liberty's Mini Me in Las Vegas), but admits he cannot top fledgling scoundrel Vector (Segel), who just stole one of the ancient pyramids and replaced it with an inflatable replica.
Gru, of course, plots to one-up Vector by stealing...wait for it...the moon! The only problem is funding to buy the shrink ray he needs, and the Bank of Evil (whose introduction includes perhaps the movie's best gag) is hesitant to offer him credit. And since Gru's loan officer is Vector's father, Vector swipes the shrink ray first.
The film takes off from there when Gru, seeing Vector's fondness for the generic animated equivalent of Girl Scout cookies, adopts three orphan scouts in order to weasel his way into Vector's posh, high-tech bachelor lair, complete with giant shark-containing aquarium in the floor.
But soon Gru finds this tot triumverate melting his icy heart, which threatens his master plan, much to the consternation of the mad scientist in his employ (
The highlight of the film certainly are Gru's impossibly adorable minions, who look like yellow squeaky-toy versions of Pac-Man ghosts wearing goggles and overalls. They're wisely not overused and are around just enough to stay cute and not veer into Jar Jar Binks territory of irritation.
Carell is more or less restrained for much of the film, though he does once or twice slide into the cartoon pop culture trap spouting things like "That's how I roll" in an over-the-top Russian accent. But as the story progresses the narrative takes over, and Gru sheds all annoyance and becomes much more endearing.
There is also an Gru's ugly-cute pet "dog" that looks fearsome but is overwhelmed by the love showered on it by the girls, and beware that there's one rather gruesome bit where it appears one of the girls is killed in bloody fashion.
The film's finale is an inventive take on the climactic blimp sequence in "Up," with a midair fight over the ever-re-expanding moon (the rule is established that the bigger the object is, the faster it regains its original shape), and is a fun scene.
Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud have the distinction of actually making full use of 3D, which only they and James Cameron (and maybe Henry Selick of "Coraline") can really say in a major motion picture environment. We actually get 3D effects here, with objects appearing to come out at the audience, but without the pretense or distracting showiness past films have. The effects worked in their own context and adds to the film.
"Despicable Me" isn't the best animated film this year (that's still "Toy Story 3," by a mile), but you'll actually feel like you get your money's worth between a fun, snappy, cute story and excellent visuals. Check this one out in theaters.