Universal's Despicable Me Trailer
Pierre Coffin Directs Steve Carell in Illumination Film
Jul 15, 2009
Despite the less-than-stellar response to last year's Tale of Despereaux, Universal Studios still wants to become a contender in the increasingly crowded world of CGI animated movies.
The studio is promoting their next flick: the Steve Carell vehicle Despicable Me, featuring the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (Horton Hears a Who), plus directors Perre Coffin ("Gary's Fall"), Chris Renaud (Ice Age: The Meltdown story artist) and Sergio Pablos (Treasure Planet supervising animator). Chris Meledandri (Horton Hears a Who) is executive producer.
Now the teaser trailer for Despicable Me has hit the InterWeb. It does what it's supposed to do, but will the film live up to the hype?
Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul Write Steve Carell's Lines in Universal's Despicable Me
Whoever made up this trailer had fun (accurately) parodying Americans' reputation abroad: a bus roaring towards the pyramids of Giza disgorges a Yankee family: the overweight, boorish dad, the fussy camera-happy mother and the hyperactive kid more obsessed with his toy airplane than what's in front of him.
It's the thoughtless kid who inadvertently discovers the Egyptians' horrifying secret: the Great Pyramid of Cheops is an inflatable fake, placed there after someone stole the real one.
"Who committed this despicable act, and where will he strike next?" a newscaster cries. Cue a fun little Alfred Hitchcock reference, and Steve Carell's voice in full Snidely Whiplash mode. This trailer accomplishes exactly what it's supposed to do:
- Be funny.
- Sell the flick.
So kudos to Universal for a job well done. But what's Despicable Me actually about? Here's the plot synopsis, according to Universal:
"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 (Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon. Gru delights in all things wicked. 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 greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo (Grace Rolek), Edith (Elsie Fisher) and Agnes (Dana Gaier)."
Jason Segel, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Danny McBride and Carol Burnett (voicing Gru's mother) fill out the cast.
Will Despicable Me Be Any Good?
That's a tough question. The Tale of Despereaux was a good-looking flick with a great voice cast, but story issues hurt it from a critical and commercial perspective. Meledandri, Daurio and Paul managed a hit with Horton Hears a Who, which made nearly $300 million worldwide. If you liked what those guys did with the Dr. Seuss classic, then this film should be a slam-dunk.
Certainly it's high time that Carell – who did sterling supporting work in Horton Hears a Who and DreamWorks Animation's Over the Hedge – headlined an animated film.
Despicable Me sidles into theatres on July 9, 2010.
Fun Fact: Americans have a so-so reputation when they travel abroad, landing 11th in a recent Expedia survey of over 4,000 hoteliers. Canadians were more popular internationally, ranking 3rd behind Japan and Britain.
The world's worst tourists? The Chinese.
 |
