Despicable Me

Super-villain Gru (Steve Carell) is tired of being upstaged by fellow criminal mastermind Vector (Jason Segel) so plots to pull off the greatest heist in history by stealing the moon.

In his secret hideout - complete with army of minions and arsenal of weapons - he and ageing assistant Dr Nefario (Russell Brand) decide to use a raygun that can shrink the moon, enabling it to be brought back to earth. But Gru encounters three unexpected problems in the form of a trio of young orphan girls. Will the cute youngsters make Gru change his ways?

Produced by the team behind Ice Age and Horton Hears A Who, Despicable Me is funny, clever and beautifully animated with memorable, imaginative characters.

Neither the villain plot nor the theme of children turning a good guy bad is original but the clever script makes it seem fresh. Carell’s performance as Gru is wonderful - even when he makes threats and plots dastardly deeds, the actor manages to make his character sympathetic or funny.

His difficulties playing dad generate a lot of laughs, notably a scene when he takes the children to a fairground and reads them a bedroom story.

Gru’s hard-of-hearing helper Dr Nefario - a genius inventor like James Bond’s Q - provides much of the comedy, as do the small yellow minions, a source of much slapstick that steal every scene they are in.

Both girls and boys will enjoy the movie - the former will root for the female trio, while the latter will love Gru’s gadgets and the hapless but hilarious minions, who mean well but tend to cause chaos.