Review – Despicable Me 3

Gru and the minions are back in Despicable Me 3, a movie that if I were seven years old would probably land at the top spot of Best Movie of 2017.  But I’m not seven, I’m almost 30, and Despicable Me 3 is landing nowhere near the top of my Best of 2017 list.

It isn’t going to land near the bottom either, however.  In fact, I genuinely enjoyed this movie for the most part.  I am a fan of the first two Despicable Me films.  I like Gru as a character and I love his relationship with the three girls, especially Agnes, who is the most adorable movie character since Boo in Monster’s Inc. (2001).  However, there is a big problem I have with this franchise and particularly this film:

Minions.

Yes, those weird, yellow, alien-speaking creatures have officially ruined this franchise.  I will admit, they started off the series okay.  I didn’t mind them in the first film and thought that they had the perfect amount of screen-time to be fun and not annoying.  However, they overstayed their welcome in the second film and then got their own movie and, well, that didn’t go so well.  After seeing that movie, I was done with anything and everything Minion.

In Despicable Me 3, they are the biggest issue because they are on the screen too much.  The story is fun and revolves around Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), now a good guy, who loses his job being a good guy and in order to get it back, tries to recover a diamond from 80’s obsessed villain Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) with the help of his newly discovered twin brother, Dru (Carell, pulling double duty).  I enjoyed this part and this story because of the conflict the Gru has.  Dru wants to keep the family name going with villainy and Gru has given up the villain game to be a good guy and struggles with this decision.  Stick to his new roots as a good guy, one that he loves, or go back to the family and villainy?  Also, Bratt is a really funny and cool villain.  The 80’s references and music are awesome and his diabolical plan is perfect.  These aspects of the film, by themselves, make for a really good movie.

However, the Minions are also in this movie and have their own story and it takes away from everything that was good about Gru’s story.  When Gru loses his job, the Minions go on strike and start causing some shenanigans around town, which ends them in prison, where they rule the prison and eventually break out to reunite with Gru.  This part of the movie is completely useless.  I was almost hoping that when the Minions went on strike that they wouldn’t come back.  Sadly, they did.

There is a scene in the movie where Gru and Dru are breaking into Bratt’s base to steal the wanted diamond.  Dru, unfamiliar to the heist game, keeps screwing up and Gru has to keep helping him.  After Gru saves Dru’s life, Gru says to himself, “Boy do I miss the minions.”  Gru is the only one who feels this way, as they tainted what was good about this movie.  I get that little kids like the Minions and I’m sure if I was under ten years old, I wouldn’t have an issue with this movie or them.  But for the sake of everybody who knows their multiplication tables, can they please focus more on Gru and girls and less on the Minions?  That would have made Despicable Me 3 a good movie instead of a mediocre one.