Despicable Me

I stumbled on this on TV and decided to watch it. I am glad I did. I love films and stories that work on multiple levels. This film can simply be enjoyed with a naiveté that sees it as a children's animated story - and a good one at that. In the same way the bed time stories in the film could be received at face value, they always point to a deeper reality and invite the listener to interpret things differently. Allegory is an amazingly creative tool.

When I think back to the hand-drawn cartoons of my childhood with their big blocks of solid colour and repetitive character movements there is little comparison to today's hi-tech computer generated animations. The characterisations and facial expressions are more natural than real life and of course with the chance to redraw each frame until the Director achieves 'perfection'. The fluid and natural movement of objects such as Gru's scarf are a real delight to watch. The film presents a visual feast!

The story has been around for as long story tellers have been plying their trade. It is very simplistic and the 'narrative arc' is established and set out early on. If the film were that simplistic, it would be a write-off. However, whilst the story line is straightforward the plot and character development (yes I know it's animation) are anything but. The characters evoked a wide range affective responses in me such as a strong dislike of Vector and Mr Perkins, empathy for the three girls and a strong desire to see Gru come good. I almost had a tear in my eye at the end such is the power of story.

The story could be a modern-day Pilgrim's Progress or morality tale which holds out the hope of transformation from darkness to light for even the world's most evil criminal mastermind. In playing out this story we are invited to hope that such transformation is not beyond our own experience and within a Christian reading of the story (parable?) the orthodox response is to see the Holy Spirit at work (possibly through the agency of the hope and love offered by Margot, Edith and Agnes) bringing about Gru's transformation and the happy ending. Happy endings are such a Western culture thing. I wonder how folk in 'the East' feel about the Western need to provide such a closed loop with a neat resolution at the end?

I am now looking forward to the sequel. This is a visually exquisite film with great characters and voices which add much value to an otherwise familiar and unexciting story. I'll give this 8/10.