What kind of rock was I hiding under? How did I miss out on this animated movie and the cute awesomeness that is the Minions? Although I knew about a movie called Despicable Me and that it was an animation film, the story that I had in mind was something else totally and it wasn’t something that I had picked out for watching. For the past few weeks I’ve noticed this craze on the internet about something called the Minions and I had no clue as to what they were. I saw some pics and though “Hmmm, what are this cartoon like creatures?” and finally I understand that they were related to the sequel of Despicable Me coming out. It is a giant hit. Naturally I had to see what the fuss was all about so I sat down to watch 2010’s Despicable Me yesterday. And I loved it.

The movie is a computer-animated 3D comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment that was released on July 9, 2010 in the United States. It is Illumination Entertainment’s first film. It was directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, based on an original story by Sergio Pablos. It boasts the voices of Steve Carrell, Jason Segal, Russell Brand & Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher as the 3 girls. Why and how do they make little girls voice in animation movie sound so much cuter than anything I have ever heard? :) Anyways, you must know the story; Gru is a super villain who’s edo is hurt as a younger villain, Vector, has out-shined everyone else by stealing The Great Pyramid of Giza. Wanting to do better, Gru approaches the Bank of Evil for the money to set about his latest attempt – Gru plans, with the assistance of Dr. Nefario, to shrink and steal, an idea based on his childhood dream of being an astronaut, which was always discouraged by his mother Marlena (voiced by Julie Andrews). However he is denied the money by the Bank president, who is Vector’s father, and is belittled for his failures.

Gru and his minions steal a shrink ray from a secret base in Asia but the up-and-coming super-villain, Vector, who was also responsible for the Pyramid theft, immediately steals it from Gru, as revenge for freezing his head earlier. Gru is unable to get into Vector’s technologically guarded fortress until he sees 3 orphaned girls selling cookies who Vector orders from. Pretending to be a dentist, Gru  adopts the girls from Miss Hattie’s Home for Girls, planning on using them to infiltrate Vector’s base so he can steal the shrink ray back. However the girls prove to be a handful and he is ofcourse an inept parent. Finally Gru gets them to go to Vector’s place to deliver the cookies, among which are Dr. Nefarious’s robot cookies. Using them Gru us able to sneak in along with his minions and steal the shrink ray back. On the way back however the girls want to go to a theme park and Gru wants to leave them there but is unable to and joins them in rides and winning a stuffed toy for the girls. The girls warm up to him as he wins the rigged game Later, Gru contacts Mr. Perkins, stating that he has finally got the shrink ray in his possession. Margo, Edith, and Agnes interrupt the meeting, and Perkins announces that he has lost confidence in Gru and will no longer fund his operations.  As Gru tells his minions of the lack of funds, the girls give him their savings and so do the minions – Gru decides to fund his own rocket to steal the moon! As the day planned to launch their plan ends up being the same day as the girls’ ballet recital. Gru becomes conflicted and Dr. Nefario, seeing this as interfering with the plan, arranges for the girls to be returned to the orphanage. Around the same time, Mr. Perkins informs Vector of Gru’s possession of the shrink ray and the adoption of the three girls, inciting Vector to take action.

Dodging Vector’s plan to stop him Gru is able to reach the moon, shrink it and takes it with him. He rushes to the girls’ recital but reaches way too late. He then finds a note from Vector, who has kidnapped the girls, telling him to give him the moon in exchange for them. After arriving at Vector’s lair, Gru readily makes the trade, but Vector reneges on the deal, flying off with the girls and the moon, much to Gru’s anger. Meanwhile, Dr. Nefario has discovered that the effects of the shrink ray are temporary; the bigger the object was originally, the faster it will regain its original size. As the moon starts to expand in Vector’s ship, Gru, Dr. Nefario, and the minions pull off a daring mid-air rescue of the girls just as the moon explodes out of Vector’s ship and launches itself back into orbit, with Vector trapped on it forever. Gru officially adopts the girls and treats them as his daughters, writing them a bedtime storybook framed around his own experience. The film ends with the girls performing their own ballet recital for Gru, Marlena, Dr. Nefario, and the minions. The end!

Funny, cute and a must watch with your kids, nephews/nieces or much smaller cousins. It’s fun for adults too. But why did they make Vector resemble Bill Gates? 9 outta 10!