GRU'S LAIR — Personally, I am a fan of the “Despicable Me” series.

I think the first one is one of the better animated films in the last 10 years. The second one won’t get those kinds of accolades, but it’s still a fun family movie that makes me laugh. I’d rather not talk about “Minions”— I don’t really consider it a “Despicable Me” movie. But with those two films, I wasn’t sure how I felt about diving into that world again and possibly ruining a pretty solid franchise.

Well, I’m here to tell you that “Despicable Me 3” does not ruin the franchise. I don’t know that it adds all that much to it, but it certainly doesn’t ruin it.

Out of the three movies, this latest one is the weakest, but by the time the house lights turned back on and the audience filtered out, I was entertained and enjoyed myself— for the most part.

“Despicable Me 3” has some things going for it and some things that make it a labor to get through at times. Here's a look at both:

The good

Steve Carell ============

I really enjoy Steve Carell’s performance as Gru and maybe it’s my juvenile sense of humor, but just listening to him makes me laugh. Carell brings the same charm, sarcasm and loving nature as he did in the earlier films.

On top of his performance as Gru, we actually get a double dose of Carell as he voices the new character, Dru, Gru’s long-lost twin brother. Dru doesn’t have quite the same charisma as Gru, but he’s still a fun character, thanks to Carell. The scenes with the two of these characters getting to know one another and kindling a brotherhood is the best part of the movie, which actually leads into one of the worst parts of the movie as well, but we’ll get into that later.

Carell is the star of these movies, not just because he’s a big name, but also because he steals the show with his voice performances.

Right amount of minion

The minions are pretty funny, but only in doses. That’s why “Minions” was a test of endurance for so many of us over the age of 10. When the first minion popped up on screen in “Despicable Me 3,” I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, “Here we go.” But I was wrong, because we only get the minions in batches and that’s what makes them so enjoyable.

I’m sure some of you do not agree with me on this, but too much of the minions will ruin a movie for me. So I’m happy the filmmakers decided to constrain themselves here and focused the story on Gru and his family instead of the little yellow henchmen.

Balthazar Bratt

These movies are known for their awesome villains from Gru to Vector and El Macho. They have continued the tradition in the third installment with Balthazar Bratt.

Voiced by “South Park” creator Trey Parker, Bratt is an adult stuck in the '80s and has some of the most ridiculous and fun gadgets of any super villain. I don’t want to give away Bratt’s backstory because the absurdity of it is one of the highlights of the film and I’d rather not ruin the fun.

Parker’s performance is obnoxiously fun and his character helped push the movie from mediocre to pretty entertaining.

My biggest complaint is that we don’t get enough of Bratt. A long section in the middle seems to forget he’s there and that was unfortunate.

The bad

Too many storylines

One of the reasons we lose sight of Bratt for so long is because “Despicable Me 3” has way too many storylines going on.

I understand that each film needs to introduce some new characters in order to keep things fresh and interesting, but we have so many at this point that we can’t focus enough on some of the more interesting storylines to make sure we don’t forget about all these other characters.

Some of the storylines are really fun and entertaining and others are just, meh. We have the three girls again but instead of involving them in Gru’s story, they are off on their own separate adventures that are just filler and are not very interesting or that much fun. A strained relationship between Lucy and Margo is forced and doesn’t really resonate while Edith and Agnes go looking for a unicorn, making for a throwaway side story that is just there to give the characters something to do.

Not enough Gru and Dru time

This ties directly into my previous complaint, but the scenes with Dru and Gru were some of my favorite, and I found myself wanting more of that interaction and we didn’t get it.

The three most entertaining characters are the brothers and Bratt and there are big chunks where we don’t see any of them and it causes the movie to drag. I found myself looking at my watch more than once wondering how much longer this was going to take. Then we got a scene with these characters and I was lost in the humor and magic of the movie again, but it was over too soon and my attention began to wander again.

This didn’t happen enough to totally ruin the movie for me, but simplifying the storylines and focusing more on these characters could have made this a much better film.

Conclusion

I had fun at the movie, but more importantly my 6-year-old and 4-year-old absolutely loved it. They were laughing out loud, gripping my hand as things got tense and clapping when the heroes triumphed. While I had my issues with the movie at times, it was made for my kids and it delivered for them.

“Despicable Me 3” is rated PG for action and rude humor. Just like its two predecessors, this movie likes its potty jokes and tense situations, but there's nothing offensive and should be appropriate for all ages.

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