The Bad Guy You Love to...Love?

'Despicable Me'

Review: 3/5

For the most part, not enough credit is given to animated films that exist outside the parameters of the 'Pixar' realm. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case with Universal's 'Despicable Me,' which has opened to critical praise and triumphant weekend box-office numbers - and with good reason. Coated with glossy highlights and soaked in a vibrant 'rainbow' aesthetic, the world inhabited by two dueling arch-nemeses comes across as a playfully irreverent province: a welcomed stage for screwball antics and overly-ambitious absurdity.

Front and center is the world's second-best super villain, 'Gru:' a lovable, middle-aged oaf whose retro villainy is undermined by a much younger, technically savvy 'Vector' (their rivalry always escalating in a very PG-rated manner). How does Gru plan to finally upstage the ADHD 'Vector?' Suffice it to say, if Gru's plan is executed properly, the world would turn into a dark, dark place (literally). Let's hope that, somehow, Mr. Gru learns to renounce his evil ways.

In the meantime, watch how the misunderstood protagonist struts and scowls simultaneously, embracing his sugar-coated wrongdoing - he thoroughly loves his profession, narcissism intact and emphasized by original music from hip-hop producer/rapper/singer Pharrell Williams, whose cool, jazz-influenced hip-hop compositions add a sense of debonair silkiness to Gru's distinctive journey.