Despicable Me 3 (2017)

The first Despicable Me came out in 2010, since then we have had an onslaught of minion merchandise. I for one don't care for them, didn't think they were particularly funny and I don't understand why people who don't understand memes have adopted them, but there we are. Despicable Me 3 follows Gru, ex villain, as he connects with his long lost twin brother Dru who wants to have one last family heist. 

Alongside that narrative we have the super villain Balthazar Bratt, who was a child star in the 80's and kind of a one hit wonder. He goes downhill after his voice breaks and ends up believing he's the character he played. He was a lot of fun, voiced by Southpark's Trey Parker, he was stuck in the 80's meaning he played a lot of 80's music and all of his tool and weapons were throwbacks to the decade. A bit of a novelty, I think a lot of parents will enjoy this throwback but the use of a portable cassette tape will be lost on the aimed demographic. 

So what do the target demographic like? Minions. They were there. They have a falling out with Gru and try it on their own and end up in prison. It was interesting I guess to see them make their own decisions or just see them in different environment.  But eh, same old same old, all I can ever think about is how they will be sold. Now there can be a bunch of minions in prison uniforms. And in the last scene wearing something different. I think they've been exhausted, unfunny but there, no real merit to the story but what you expect from them.

Steve Carell is great, some of the scenes it really felt like he was having so much fun playing both Gru and Dru. He's a likable guy and that comes across with both characters. The brothers grow together despite some differences they still have a lot in common. The few scenes that actually warranted a chuckle were basically Carell talking to himself. Each of the characters get their own side line stories to follow the main theme of the film, there's sweet development for Lucy, Gru's wife, as she learns to fill the mother position for the girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes. Agnes goes on search to find a real life unicorn with Edith as Margo ends up in a pickle with a local boy. Each sideline felt a little forced as just something for them to do whilst Gru pasted the time but they did manage to tie them both together with the overall message alright. 

The animation was spectacular, as should be expected with Dreamworks at this stage. The parts I found particularly engaging were the adverts for Bratts show, the animated characters using toy action figures that looked real. That was really impressive. And to be honest a little confusing to see something look so real with such exaggerated animated characters. No spoilers but there's a particular scene in the final act on a beach with Bratt's final show stopper and seeing that looked pretty amazing. The sound was great but Pharrell Williams is involved so what else is there to say. They used the theme 'Despicable Me' as well as a song from the original film. Lots of 80's tracks which were fun and worked well.

Pretty forgettable to be honest, but I say that as someone that find the first two the same. The kids in the screening didn't sound that impressed either, very few laughs. 5/10

CINEMATES - A

Boss Baby (2017)

So after a bit of a cock up at the cinema, I ended up seeing a showing of Boss Baby. You know what, hilarious. I love Alec Baldwin, fancied him in Beetlejuice and adored him in 30 Rock, was intrigued on that alone. Did not realise how many other well known actors were involved in this film either. So little Timothy Templeton has a great life with him and his parents, unfortunately Tim's mum, played by Lisa Kudrow, is pregnant. Baby Baldwin shows up in a taxi in a suit and starts running a muck.  Tim's mum and his dad, played by Jimmy Kimmel, are oblivious and try to make them bond as brothers. Soon Tim unravels that Boss Baby comes from a huge corporation of babies, Baby Corp, of babies with adult minds that make business. And that the reason Boss Baby is here is due to the world finding puppies cuter than babies and they need to get that love back to be top dog, figuratively. Cute imaginative concept with equally silly execution.

I gotta talk about the animation, there's no way I can't. I loved it, I loved the animation. Its not just the standard Dreamworks that you see in the trailers, though that it the main animation. Its a story told by a child so his imagination runs wild and you can see that. Some really gorgeous homages from some classic cinema styles. They were quite creative with how they showed some scenes. Some plot points were pushed forward with a once upon a time type trope with a character literally sitting you down and telling you the back story, but fine, it's a kids film. My favourite parts were probably those little tidbits and they came at a good pace, visually fantastic, definitely brought the average imagery of the film up. Hans Zimmer has a chuck at the music so there that is. Not much more to say about that, he's quality at what he does and is always whats needed for which ever film he does. Follows along with the more creative visuals with theatrical sound to parallel.

The film was jokes though. Kids jokes yes and adult jokes also, but I mean it has Alec Baldwin, he has a great voice, a voice that juxtaposed with a baby is ridiculous. And that's something I think they did well. Had a funny balance between grown up and baby, yes some jokes in that vein were unoriginal but you know why? Because all babies behave the same, that's why. There's only a finite amount of things that babies do. Boss Baby having tiny power naps was adorable, him throwing money at Tim to buy him sushi as a pretentious little businessman was great in contrast. There were a few surprise jokes for me, ever have a joke just catch you by surprise and you're a little bit shocked that you are actually laughing out loud? Well that happened a few times in this film. Just a few jokes that were breezed over so casually that caught me off guard. Definitely a kids film, a lot of silly jokes, but most of them worked. I'd say Boss Baby is the funniest character, Tim Templeton isn't meant to be as funny, he's meant to be more of a genuine little boy. Boss Baby's little entourage wasn't particularly memorable but did they did fine to tag along in a couple scenes. The villain played by Steve Buscemi wasn't that funny either. Debatably the funniest character was actually Tim's wizard alarm clock, played by James McGrath doing a wonderful Gandalf impression. No doubt kids will be giggling a cartoon baby bum cheek and lets be honest adults probably will too.

The constant message throughout is that love can be shared. It's not one over another it's huge worldwide, parental love for everyone equally. It's great for a young child trying to accept a new addition to the family, no one is replaced people are just added to the love pie chart. Templeton learns, after a while that there's no need for competition. He struggled with the idea of neglect and being 'fired from your own family', neither of which is true of course. Boss Baby also deals with this competition at work and the villain also has this same theme of not being the favourite.

6/10 Funny but not thaaat memorable adaptation of a successful children's picture book. Good cast, great animation and sweet message. Kids will enjoy it but not every joke will get a laugh from the adults.