Despicable Me 3

Gru and his mischievous yellow Minions have conquered the Chinese box-office! According to China's tracking company Entgroup, this third installment opened as the country's biggest animated hit ever. The story follows former bad-guy-turned-secret agent Gru (Steve Carell) and his agent wife Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), along with their three adopted daughters—maturing Margo, unicorn-obsessed Agnes, and playful Edith— who travel to Freedonia to meet Gru's long-lost, ostentatiously wealthy twin brother Dru (also voiced by Carell), who wants Gru to return to villainy. Having been unceremoniously fired by the new Anti-Villain League boss (Jenny Slate) and deserted by his sinister Minions, reformed Gru and clumsy Dru take on Balthazar “Evil” Bratt (Trey Parker). Bratt is a resentful ‘80s-obsessed child TV star-turned-diamond thief, who has a sassy robot on call, a trusty keyboard guitar, a penchant for Rubik's Cube, and a fervent desire to destroy Hollywood. Tossing bubble-gum bombs, Bratt endlessly repeats his tagline: “I've been a baaaad boy!” Julie Andrews vocalizes Gru and Dru's rotten mother Marlene. Co-directors Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin (who also voices the babbling, nonsensical Minions) maintain a frantic pace in this disjointed film filled with inoffensive jokes and colorful sight gags. The weakest of the three franchise entries to date, this is an optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “The AVL Files” character database (13 min.), a “making-of” featurette (7 min.), the mini-movie “The Secret Life of Kyle” (4 min.), a “Freedonia Visitors Guide” (5 min.), the behind-the-scenes featurettes “Developing Dru” (4 min.), “Steve Carell: Gru & Dru” (2 min.), “Kristen Wiig: Lucy” (2 min.), “Miranda Cosgrove: Margo” (2 min.), “Dana Gaier: Edith” (2 min.), and “Nev Scharrel: Agnes” (2 min.), the “Yellow Light” music video (3 min) and “Doowit” sing-along (2 min.), TV shorts (3 min.), “Minion Moments” (2 min.), “Minion Mug Shots” (2 min.) and “Wanted Posters” photo galleries (2 min.), and a brief deleted scene. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a so-so threequel.] (S. Granger)