As much as the first animated film in the Despicable Me franchise appeared seven years ago, the new feature features the same kind of energy and comedy that had charmed the audience. To celebrate and understand how the franchise has remained successful, it is interesting to trace its storyline from the introduction of the characters that have become dear ones.
The first production of Despicable Me tells the story of Gru, the voice of Steve Carell in the USA and Leandro Hassum in Brazil, a supervillain who wants to be the best, or more precisely, worse, evildoer in the world. But his desire is broken when another super-villain, Vector (Jeason Segel in the US and Marcius Melhem in the Brazilian version) steals the oldest and largest pyramid in Egypt. Desperate, Gru no longer has anything left to steal the moon – a task not very simple. For this, he will need to steal a shrinking weapon that is in his opponent’s fortress.
Even helped by the clumsy Minions (the funniest and most beloved characters in the movie) Gru has no chance of entering the fortress. Until he meets three orphan girls who try to sell cookie to survive. Gru, who comically tries to be the father of the girls and teach them to steal the shrinking beam, succeeds in stealing the moon. But he soon realizes that it may not be that bad, and that girls are more valuable to him than the moon itself. The villain inadvertently ends up forming an unusual family.
The second film begins with Gru trying to be a normal, though not very fortunate, businessman who thinks about sustaining his new family. Of course, the attempt to be a normal person is shattered when the anti-villain league calls for help to recover a powerful mutagen that alters the DNA and shape of anyone, and also any Minion. Just like in the first movie, what appears to be an action comedy where Gru has a clear and certain goal turns into a family comedy where the character sees his personal emotions blend with his goals. This time, he falls in love with Agent Lucy, who helps him investigate the theft of the mutagen. In a hysterical final scene, Lucy admits she also likes the villain, marrying him and becoming the mother the orphaned girls dreamed of having.
Before the third film, the producers even created Minions, a film that tells the story of how Gru’s messy helpers have evolved from the beginning of the universe to become the yellow creatures of today. Always being glazed on the bad, the Minions at the end find in the young Gru the kind of villain they always wanted to follow.
This fun and comical trajectory brings us to the third film of the franchise. Now, Gru, unemployed for not being so good at catching villains, ends up finding his unknown twin brother, who is a millionaire and … bad. Although Gru tries to maintain a normal new life, with his wife and daughters adopted, the desire to be evil begins to appear again, to the joy of the Minions.
(article translated from the original version in portuguese, by Google Translate)