DESPICABLE ME 3 MOVIE REVIEW

Universal Pictures treated A GEEK DADDY to a family dinner and outing to the movies where we had the chance to see an advance screening of DESPICABLE ME 3.  My 8 year old son and daughter who have grown up watching the films in this movie franchise were really excited to see a new adventure on the silver screen.  The twins were especially interested to see how the story's plot of introducing Gru to a twin brother he never knew about would play out!  They've never seen The Parent Trap (1961 / 1998) which Despicable Me 3 is parodying so this was mind blowing element of the movie for them. 

Before heading out to see Despicable Me 3, my kids insisted we have a movie marathon watching the previous two Despicable Me films and Minions on home video.  So we entered the theater all revved up to see the newest adventure of Gru and his Minions!

Despicable Me 3 continues the story of Gru, Lucy, their adorable daughters—Margo, Edith and Agnes—and the Minions. After he is fired from the Anti-Villain League for failing to take down the latest bad guy to threaten humanity, Gru finds himself in the midst of a major identity crisis.  But when a mysterious stranger shows up to inform Gru that he has a long-lost twin brother—a brother who desperately wishes to follow in his twin’s despicable footsteps—one former super-villain will rediscover just how good it feels to be bad.



I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish watching this movie.  Despicable Me 3's nostalgic '80s spoofs, physical humor and wise cracking jokes had me chuckling throughout the movie.  The film really does a nice job of complementing the tone and vibe of the previous Despicable Me  movies while also standing out on its own merits.  It also continues the theme of valuing family, expanding the role of Lucy as a mother to the girls and adding Dru into the mix, which this parent watching the movie with his kids appreciated.

Addressing Minion overkill from the last two movies, Despicable Me 3 sees a diminished role for these characters in the script with more of a focus on Gru, Lucy and their daughters.  I liked this because it made the moments featuring the Minions stand out more and I thought they were funnier  because you didn't get worn out by their ongoing antics continuously taking place like in the other films.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the Minions, but sometimes quality is better than quantity.  Also Balthazar Bratt is not just a humorous addition to the movie but also a very worthy adversary.  


My kids LOVED the movie!  My daughter really was into Agne's search for a real life unicorn.  My son thought Bratt's bubble gum weapons were AWESOME!  They both appreciated the dynamic that take place between Gru and Dru as well.  My wife thought the movie was "OK" better than Despicable Me 2 and Minions but not as great as the original Despicable Me.  I really liked the movie because it is an all-ages appropriate animated summer movie that families can enjoy together with parents and children alike finding it interesting and funny to watch.

 Despicable Me 3 is rated PG for rude humor (mostly the Minions) and mild action sequences which include "dance fights", jail house antics, and characters risking being impaled on menacing spikes. Plus Lucy beats up quite a few people showing she's not someone to be messed with.  All in all I didn't see anything overly objectionable that should give parents concern about taking a child of any age to see this movie.  It really is a nice movie for a family outing to the movie theater.

Despicable Me 3 gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval because it is a colorful, zany movie that I enjoyed viewing as much as my kids did.  It is a funny fun movie very much worth going to see in my opinion.  Kids and kids-at-heart will really be entertained by it!

Despicable Me 3 opens at theaters across the United States on June 30, 2017.  For more information about the movie, please visit www.despicable.me or check out the film's social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and GruTube.

Meet Gru's Twin Brother in DESPICABLE ME 3

Illumination, the studio behind Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2 and Minions, continues the adventures of Gru, Lucy, their adorable daughters—Margo, Edith and Agnes—and the Minions in Despicable Me 3 which arrives at movie theaters in the USA on June 30, 2017.  Joining in the action of the newest movie is Dru, the twin brother of Gru, who we are introduced to in this new trailer for Despicable Me 3:



Joining Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig in Despicable Me 3 is Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award winner Trey Parker, co-creator of Comedy Central’s global phenomenon South Park and the Broadway smash The Book of Mormon.  Parker voices the role of villain Balthazar Bratt, a former child star who’s grown up to become obsessed with the character he played in the ‘80s, and proves to be Gru’s most formidable nemesis to date.

The question now is what piece to the puzzle does Dru play in the motion picture's plot? While you are waiting for Despicable Me 3 to arrive at theaters to find out the answer to that question have some fun using new Twitter Emojis that appear when using #DespicableMe3 and #Minions that allow you to include images of characters from the movie in your tweets.  You can also follow the movie's official Twitter feed, @DespicableMe, for news and updates about the film.  While you are on Twitter make sure to follow @Geekdad248 to stay in touch with everything A GEEK DADDY is blogging about.

Who else is looking forward to the return of the minions this summer?!