Despicable Me: Movie Review

As the ending credits rolled, I left the theater saddened by the sin-glorifying messages in Despicable Me. With all the commercial hype comically depicting the giggling yellow minions who co-star in this animated film, I was looking forward to light slap-stick, witty humor. Cleverness and laughter abound, but far too often it’s cloaked in darkness. Overall, the theme repeats that being bad is not so bad. Stealing, lying, and being sneaky are never identified as wrong. Being cruel to children is the only offense that’s depicted as truly evil.

The Movie in a Minute

Two arch rivals compete to gain notoriety as the world’s most spectacular thieves by stealing historical landmarks of grandeur. In an effort to out-do Vector (the tech-savvy newcomer in the villain world), Gru (the well-established villain and main character, voiced by Steve Carell) devises a plan to steal the moon. He rallies his minions and discovers that a crucial part of his plan will require using three girls from a neighboring orphanage to gain access to Vector’s home and his shrink ray gun (a necessary tool to minimize the moon to a portable size). He adopts the girls who are naïve to Gru’s plan and delighted to finally be adopted. Gru’s dastardly plan gets underway and his cold heart eventually fills with love for the girls.

Christian Worldview

If there is a saving grace in this story, it is that Gru has a change of heart towards the children. Initially, his Grinch-like persona treats the girls like less than dogs. But as these innocent and love-starved characters beg for Gru to throw them more than a bone, he gradually gains true concern for their welfare and happiness.

The lyrics to the theme song for Despicable Me say, “I’m having a bad, bad day. It’s about time that I get my way. Steamrolling whatever I see . . .” and will undoubtedly appeal to children (and some adults). This motivation is never pinpointed in the story as an unrewarding attitude. In fact, it’s accepted and put on a pedestal. This is a wrong message for children! It mocks “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and any humble, remorseful consequences to sin.

On a Positive Note

The three orphan girls (Margo, Edith, and Agnes) do not mimic Gru’s despicable behaviors. It is their pureness of heart that changes Gru instead of his lifestyle changing them for the worse. The glimpses back into his childhood show a little boy who just wanted to be loved and accepted by his mother. He never had a chance since she also was callous and evil.

Cautions

Though the film is only rated PG, it does contain crude humor, bathroom humor, and violence.