The film sees Gru and Lucy lose their job after a failed attempt to capture evil former child star turned super villain Balthazar Bratt. Trying to pick up the pieces of his life and losing his minions (who walk out on him) Gru's life changes when he discovers he has a twin brother named Dru. Dru invites the family to visit him on his pig filled Island with the aim to get Gru to teach him the ways of villainy and follow the family business.
As stated at the start of the review, this is a film that is what it is. The character of Gru, the main missing link of the Minion solo film, is the same character more or less as the character he was in the second film. The only real change is the fact that he is alot softer in this film. He is a family man now and is nowhere near the fun evil super villain turned hero from the first amazing film but this isn't particularly a bad thing, i mean we have grown with Gru for three films, but I was hoping we would get a switch back to his old ways in this film. Alas not. The minions on the other hand we pretty funny in this film. I loved the west side story style prison scene, the finger clicking was hilarious, and we get to see a more fleshed out version of Mel, the leader of the Minions, the one who wants (like myself) to see the return of evil Gru. When it comes to what is wrong with the series, Personally I think the Lucy character has watered it down. I honestly can't see the point of her being here apart from the set up this whole love story, family unit thing, but news flash you don't need a mother figure to bring the feels when you have the great bond between Gru and his Girls.
I didn't mind Dru, he had some funny moments and I really liked the ending scene with him. The Agnes on a unicorn hunt was very cute, a one of my favorite moments of the film, from the scenes in the pub to the forest moment that will melt your heart. One of the stand out characters in the film however had to be Balthazar Bratt who was a brilliant villain, with a hell of an 80's backing track to back him up. Voiced by South Park co-creator Trey Parker, who is obviously well versed in animation voice over work, The character has all the traits needed to bring a true foe for Gru. He has a real gripe against hollywood, a child actor scorned once he came of age and was an acne ridden teenager and then was forgotten by everyone. Now he has grown up, hasn't even changed how he looks or acts from his tv show days, and is just totally mental. Again I love the 80's soundtrack, I love the dance fight moments and the face offs between him and Gru is all you needed for this film.
One last grip isn't really on the main film itself, it is more a gripe about trailers. The first portion of the film, before the main header title, is the whole trailer plus a tad extra, but if you watch the trailer you have the first part of the film right there, and that takes away some of the films enjoyment. I have seen that trailer a million times at the cinema or on adverts and what started out as funny started to get very annoying very fast. This shouldn't happen hollywood! shame on you.
In closing Despicable Me 3 is much better then the train wreck that is Minions, and while it does have its faults it is a rather enjoyable film with a very good villain and some heart warming moments. The comedy works in places but doesn't in others but you can deal with that in this type of animation. Will this be the film of the summer animation wise? doubt it, but the kids will love it, so expect Minions 2 or Despicable Me 4 in summer 2019.