Film Review | Despicable Me (2010)

Another entry into the ever-growing computer-animated market, Despicable Me was the first by Universal and met with considerable popularity upon its release. But with CGI giant Pixar still very much at the top of the pile in this area of cinema (with Cars 2 hopefully just an anomalous blip) and Dreamworks' Megamind covering similar themes and ideas, Universal needed to pull something special out of the bag to truly make a mark in the computer-animated market.

Despicable Me centres around Gru (Steve Carell), a super-villain who suddenly finds himself overshadowed by new villain on the block Vector (Jason Segel). Gru therefore plans his greatest scheme yet: stealing the moon. After one or two unexpected turns of events, Gru hatches a idea to adopt three orphan girls to help him succeed in his his evil plan.

There's a fair amount to like about Despicable Me. Carell is entertaining as Gru, and the young voice actresses for the three orphans Margo, Edith and Agnes (Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher) do very well, bringing a level of cuteness to the trio that is sweet but never saccharine and increasingly authentic as the film goes on. Russell Brand is almost unrecognisable as Gru's right hand man Doctor Nefario, giving him a pleasing gruff tone, but I felt he could have done a little more with the role. The cast elsewhere are satisfactory but never do much to truly bring the supporting players to life. I also can't help but feel that Jason Segel as Gru's rival villain Vector was somewhat miscast, holding back too much in a role that requires a more over-the-top approach; compare his performance to, say, Rainn Wilson's antagonist Gallaxhar in Monsters Vs. Aliens and Segel's villainous turn here just doesn't stand up.

The plot is predictable but enjoyable. At only ninety minutes in length, however, there's limited time for the relationship between Gru and his adoptive daughters to develop, the kind of development that has been achieved much more successfully in multiple Pixar offerings. That said, there is definite heart at the centre of Despicable Me's story, something which comes through pleasingly more and more throughout.

Elsewhere, things feel a little more uneven. The action set pieces never deliver anything more than satisfactory thrills. The plot too never fully resolves the fact that Despicable Me inhabits a curious world where super-villains live, but with no recognisable superheroes to oppose them. It's an odd choice, and one that becomes less important in the film's final act, but certainly one which for me left parts of the film's story feeling perfunctory or incomplete .

Ultimately, Despicable Me is enjoyable with enough going for it to make it a worthwhile watch. It never comes close to the heights of a Pixar classic in either story or technical wizardry; but it's never mediocre either, something which the inferior Megamind cannot claim. Placing a film like this under close scrutiny is only setting yourself up for disappointment. It's hard to truly recommend Despicable Me with so many perfect and near-perfect pieces of cinema being released in the CGI arena, but as straightforward entertainment it succeeds more often than it fails.

6/10

Film Review | Date Night (2010)

As I've said before, the worst kind of review to write is of the film that doesn't give you a lot to say about it. Great films are a pleasure to write about. Awful films at least give you plenty of material, and at times can be fun to dissect. But middle-of-the-road fare, the film that's never awful but never particularly good, can prove frustratingly difficult to write about. Date Night is one of those films.

The film stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey as married couple Phil and Claire Foster who find their lives dull and driven by routine. Trying to break out of their humdrum existence, Phil organises a date night at a fancy restaurant. However, after a case of mistaken identity, the two find themselves caught up in something far more dangerous than they could have imagined.

Simply put, Date Night is distinctly average at best. Carell and Fey are okay as leads, not dire but not great either. The chemistry between them is limited, and I never really bought into them as a realistic couple. This isn't helped by the minuscule amount of development they - or indeed anyone in this film - receives. They're ground down by their lives at the start of the story, get caught up in a cops-and-robbers saga driven by  a forgettable MacGuffin, and that's about it. We never get any real indication that anything will change after the credits roll.

What makes Date Night slightly worse than your average "average film" is that it really should have been better than average. Mark Wahlberg turns up in support, as does James Franco, but both are severely underutililsed and almost seem a bit embarrassed to be there. Seeing Ray Liotta reduced to a bit-part crime boss in a mediocre film like this is especially painful, and just serves to remind the audience of the talent going to waste here.

Ultimately, Date Night never really delivers anything it attempts. The comedy is never funny enough, the action never exciting enough and the story generally feels like it was made up as director Shawn Levy went along, losing my interest way before the final act. Its saving grace is that it's entirely forgettable; you'll never have a hankering to rewatch it, and you'll probably struggle to remember any specific scenes or lines much afterwards. It's bubblegum cinema, but unfortunately the flavour is gone a few chews too early.

4/10