Mad scientist kiddie flick Despicable Me has a new trailer that showcases Steve Carell's vocal talents as baddie Gru - and orphans. Why? Perhaps because orphans can do the one thing non-Pixar animation can't, like elicit emotion?
Critics are already writing this movie off simply because it's not a Pixar film, and they may have a point. The idea of giving an evil genius a sack of orphans to "humanize" him is incredibly cliched. Still, the kitty finger puppet storytelling moment in the new trailer is genius. So I could go either way on this one.
Here's the official synopsis:
In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon.
Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad.
The world's (second) greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.