Despicable Me is one of the cutest (and definitely bearable) family films I’ve ever seen. In fact, I think I like it more than my family do, and I genuinely laugh at what is quite clearly humour aimed at children.
The first film follows an evil supervillain, Gru, as he gets into an evilness competition with Vector, nerd-turned-supervillain. When Vector steals the pyramid of Giza, Gru decides the best thing to do is to steal the moon. He first has to get into Vector’s incredibly well protected house, but when he discovers that Vector has a soft spot for Coconutties, he adopts three of the girls selling these cookies to help him. However, he starts to genuinely like the girls, and considers calling off his moon-stealing-escapades to go to the girls’ dance recital. Agnes, the youngest girl with a small obsession with unicorns, is unbelievably cute. Of course, with this being a family film, there is a happy ending. Gru realises the error of his ways and begins to truly love the girls, becoming a happy family by the end of the film, and even fixing his relationship with his mother.
I think what makes Despicable Me so loved is almost undoubtedly the minions. Yes, it’s a half-decent storyline, yes, the youngest of the girls is adorable, but really, without the minions, the film wouldn’t have been half as successful…
Minions, small little yellow helpers, are the kind of pet everyone wants. They’re always willing to help, even if it does take them a while to put down their beloved bananas and get to it. They speak in a funny mixture of French, English, Spanish, Indian, Italian and gobbledegook (called ‘Minionese’)… so although most of what they say just sounds like obscure ramblings, there are certain words which can be picked out. Most words are food references, such as ‘potato’ and ‘poulet tiki masala’. The minions are actually voiced by the directors, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, who:
“mix up all these ridiculous sounding words just because they sound good, not because they necessarily mean something” (Pierre Coffin)
Minions have become a hit worldwide, becoming incorporated into all kinds of things; some the best I’ve seen are nails painted as minions, and the other day I saw a little girl wearing a cute minion hat! The cake pictured was actually made by my mother for my seventeenth birthday, which looked and tasted amazing (after we were ready to cut into such a work of art).
There are thousands of minion toys and games, and of course the spin-off film, Minions, which is being released in 2015. Minion Rush, too, is the smart phone game based on Temple Run but featuring minions. Minions are also part of ‘Chiquita’ bananas’ advertising campaign, because minions love bananas!
The characters are voiced by Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Kristen Wiig, and my favourite actress of all time, Julie Andrews. I hadn’t realised how many of the voices I actually knew until I looked it up on Wikipedia.
I went to see Despicable Me 2 twice in the cinema, which is really something for me as I very rarely class a film as being important enough to spend ten pounds on. The second time, there was a power cut only five minutes into the film, but since I’d already watched it, I wasn’t that bothered. I’d already eaten all my popcorn anyway. Despicable Me 2 introduces Lucy Wilde, who eventually becomes the children’s mother when Gru falls in love with her… Yet again, the perfect happy family ending.
My favourite is that of Jamie and Aurélia, who meet when Jamie retreats to a quiet cottage in France for Christmas, so he can focus on his writing and escape his failed relationship. While there, he falls for his Portuguese speaking housekeeper, Aurélia. Despite the language barrier, the subtitles show that they both have similar thoughts and get on well. When Jamie returns to England, he immediately takes up Portuguese classes, and eventually travels to ask Aurélia to marry him, in Portuguese. She replies ‘yes’, as she has been learning English for the same reason.
Another story I like is that of David and Natalie, although it is not as relatable as Jamie and Aurélia’s situation… After all, we’re not all prime minister. David and Natalie meet in 10 Downing Street, where Natalie works as a member of David’s household staff. They inevitably fall in love, but David pushes her away, as they are ‘not allowed’ to be in love. However, David realises he can’t fight it anymore after he finds a Christmas card from Natalie, and goes to her house in ‘the dodgy end of Wandsworth’. He takes her to the nativity that her family are on their way to see, and their budding relationship is eventually exposed when the curtain is raised on the two of them kissing backstage.
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