Written by Logan J. Fowler and Justin Matchick
Release Date: June 30th, 2017
Starring: Steve Carell, Kristin Wiig,Trey Parker, Jenny Slate
Director: Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: I’ve enjoyed the first two Despicable Me movies, but not Minions. I thought the spin off of the pill shaped comedic relief was a poor attempt to cash in on the most favorite part of the Despicable Me movies, but I cannot fault Illumination Animation for doing so. While the first film in the series was a surprise hit, there’s no doubt the second one was less than memorable. Still, I’m curious to see where this franchise goes, as both the original and second movies have entertained me greatly. -LJF
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: Your enjoyment of the Despicable Me series is pretty much based off of how annoying and/or funny you find the Minions. Personally, I’ve grown to like them even after the relentless saturation of them during ad campaigns for these movies every few years. After getting just a stand alone Minions film a few years ago, it’ll be interesting to see how often they use them now that the rest of the Despicable Me characters are back. – JTM
Rate the Trailer: 3 out of 5. Double Steve Carell? Great selling point for me. Portraying Gru and his brother, Dru, the comedic actor now can really cut loose. Being that Carell is the emotional core of these movies, I find the main character of these entries far more energetic and fun than the minions. I don’t know if the rest of the third film will be able to capitalize on more of the actor, but it should be at least a fun watch. I’m also curious to see Trey Parker step out of the South Park realm and try his hand at more kid friendly stuff. -LJF
Rate the Trailer: 3 out of 5. I was surprised at how little we saw of the Minions in this trailer, although I am sure there will be a lot more of them in the actual movie. The idea of Trey Parker in a non-South Park role, and even more specifically for a kids film, is surprising. He’s a very talented voice actor though, and the 1980s retro-obsessed villain he voices looks like a fun character. The idea of a brother for Gru is a classic sequel trope, but at the very least it gives us more Steve Carrell voice acting which is always nice. – JTM
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Rent, but maybe Theater. Except for the first film, I’ve seen all the other Despicable Me movies in theaters, because they just make for some at least decent big screen viewing material. With no interest in Cars 3, this may be the only animated film I check out this summer. However, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I can easily wait for a home viewing. -LJF
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Rent. This is too crowded of a summer movie season for me to justify going out and spending money to see this, but it looks like something that will be fun to check out on a slow night a few months down the line. – JTM
