Despicable Me 3 is a return to form

WE ALL love the minions, but the spin-off movie was just silly. Thankfully, the latest Despicable Me has returned to what made it work in the first place.

BY THE time you get to the fourth instalment in a franchise, there’s always the risk of it getting tired.

And while it doesn’t have the freshness of the first film, Despicable Me 3 is at least back in the groove after the misguided Minions movie.

Because, if nothing else, Despicable Me 3 proves that those adorable, pill-shaped, banana-obsessed creatures are best enjoyed in smaller doses, as sidekicks and supporting characters, rather than be allowed to run rampant for a full 90 minutes.

Despicable Me 3 stars Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig talk to news.com.au

Despicable Me 3 takes it back to where it’s strongest, to Gru and the voice talents of Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig, and to a story about family, which also includes three adopted daughters — Margo, Edith and unicorn-mad Agnes.

Joining the gang is a long-lost twin brother named Dru (also Carell). Apart from Dru’s Fabio hair to Gru’s chrome dome, the two are more alike than Gru would initially admit.

The story goes something like this: after a failed attempt at capturing bad guy Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), Gru and Lucy are sacked from the Anti-Villain League by the organisation’s terrifying new boss (Jenny Slate). Cast adrift, Gru receives a message from a twin brother he didn’t know he had.

Arnie and Danny’s touching reunion.

Flaxen-haired Dru lives in a castle in Freedonia, a quaint town straight out of the pages of a fairytale book with its own piggybacked corps of Keystone cops. Dru, it turns out, is very much a devotee of the family business — villainy — though his strike rate is decidedly less successful. But he does have a lot of fun toys at his disposal.

Gru tricks Dru into “stealing” the world’s most valuable diamond but, in reality, the plan is to take it back from Bratt.

Bratt, the mullet-haired chief antagonist of Despicable Me 3, is an embittered former 80s child star whose sociopathy was awakened when his sitcom was canned after he hit puberty. All of his nefarious plans to take down Hollywood are recycled plots from his TV show and his heists are accompanied by 80s pop hits — expect to tap your toes to a-Ha, Michael Jackson, peak Madonna, Nena and Berlin among others.

Elsewhere, the minions have decided they’ve had enough of Gru’s domestic makeover so bald-patched Mel leads a rebellion against Gru and the gang end up having a side adventure of their own.

So, so cute — in small doses.

At its core, the Despicable Me films have always been about family and one of the minor story threads is Lucy trying to bond with the girls and be accepted as their new mum. It’s a warm and fuzzy message parents will have no problem foisting on their unsuspecting brood.

Making a welcome return, Carell and Wiig demonstrate the importance of voice talent in animation with the seasoned comedians lifting the film with their vibrancy — something that was clearly lacking in the Minions spin-off.

It was never going to be as sharp as the original Despicable Me, but even after eight years, there’s still plenty here to like whether you’re five or fifty-five.

Rating: 3/5

Despicable Me 3 is in cinemas from today.

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Originally published as Despicable Me 3 is a return to form