I agree with LightningBuzzFredrickson. The movie was cute, but I personally liked TS3 and HTTYD more on many different levels.
Well, I’ve watched it yesterday (it’s 3 Monday morning now) and it was buckets of fun! I’ve finished writing a review for my student publication, and I may post that or a more lengthy reflection later if I weren’t inundated with assignments now. 
Ah, so many evil tasks, so little time. 
I loved Despicable Me. I loved TS3 and HTTYD more, but it was a lot of fun. To be honest, I thought DM was funnier than TS3. Actually, I’ve never found Pixars films to be laugh out loud funny. They’ve made me smile and chuckle, but to me they tend to do more for me as far as pulling at my heart strings, instead of making me laugh out loud. DM had me laughing over and over again, while as soon as Woody called a meeting with all the toys at the beginnig of TS3, and I saw how many were left, I had a meloncholy feeling for he rest of the film. I thought about how the last two movies were, and how Andy’s room was full of life, to the way it was in part three, I couldn’t get rid of the feeling.
I thought this movie was great, and a good start for a thriving new studio. The animation and character designs seemed generally quite nice, and the story was, while a touch predictable, very pleasant in the way it was presented. While I will agree that Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon were more satisfying/consistent, Despicable Me is definitely worth a watch in theatres. It reminded me of the early 2000’s for CG animation for whatever reason 
Did anyone else get that feeling?? I think it had something to do with the setting and music… (Hans Zimmer FTW!)
So here’s my published review on my university magazine.
And this is the unedited version that I sent to the editor:
SO BAD, IT’S GOOD.
Criminal-mastermind Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell with an Eastern Bloc accent) has not been the most successful supervillain. Resembling a caricaturised Ernst Blofeld, the kleptomaniac’s most devious deeds to date have been pinching the Times Square Jumbotron, the Statue of Liberty, and the Eiffel Tower (the latter two from Las Vegas). But his latest and grandest exploit, which he proudly declares the “Crime of the Century”, will be to literally steal the moon. Unfortunately, his request from the Bank of Evil (“formerly Lehman Brothers”) to finance the scheme is rejected in favour of Vector, a younger and smarter upstart. Gru then hatches a plan to steal from his rival the shrink-ray gun required for the loan approval. When he fails to infiltrate Vector’s lair, he adopts three orphan girls with the intent to use them as cookie sellers while he sneaks in. Ironically though, the greatest heist of the movie will be of his heart from the adorable tykes looking up to him as a father figure.
Despicable Me is a disarmingly endearing and heartwarming tale of redemption and the healing power of love. Gru is the latest in line of recent Russian baddies from Salt and Iron Man 2, except he’s a hopelessly inept anti-villain complete with Freudian issues. His army of “Minions” (who resemble walking Homer Simpson heads) singlehandedly steals the show with Chaplinesque charm. Infused with the manic energy of a Tex Avery cartoon and powered by a slick spy-themed score, this film is anything but despicable.
That’s so awesome TDIT, you’re a published author!
Very nice review, you summed the movie up quite nicely. Not to metion, double points for mentioning two of my heros (Avery and Chaplin)
That is very professional TDIT, although I think you should have mentioned the three girls.
@thedriveinthethre- That was a lovely review and I enjoyed reading it. The review was informative and had smart references. It gives the readers an idea of how the movie may playout. Btw I’ve yet to watch the film, since it has yet to be released in the UK and looking forward to how the minions ‘steal the show’.
Wow TDIT! That’s amazing! You’re a great critic!
Here’s the official announcement for Despicable Me’s home release.
Thanks for the compliments, everyone!
ellie-jessie-eve: Yeah, I was observing the animation styles, and these two folks were the first thing that came to mind!
TAMATER: I did in the initial manuscript (which I posted below the image), but unfortunately “boss” editor had to cut it out for the sake of brevity. 
azzstar: Wow, is the UK the new Japan? You should really check it out, it’s worth the ‘crowd experience’, IMO.
Leirin: Thanks!
theoutsider1983: It’s so awesome, I’m gonna die!!!
That cover art stinks.
I probably won’t get it, but I’m sure it’ll look great on Bluray.
Bryko: Hmm… well, I agree with you on the Bluray part. IMHO, I do like the minimalist cover design, Gru’s pose looks very James-Bondish (Shrink Ray Gun FTW!)… though the Minions are just ‘cut and paste’ from previous marketing material I’ve seen.
I’m curious what the three ‘mini-movies’ (which I guess is their marketing term for ‘shorts’) will be about. Hopefully it won’t be just about the Minions.
I agree. They can do better than that.
Well, guys, the Toy Story and Toy Story 2 DVDs have awful cover art, too. No hippocracy, please. 
Anyway, I want to see this. Hopefully Mom will rent it for me…will it come on Starz?
Haha, you’re absolutely right, IncredigirlVirginia!
Thanks for that. But it’s spelled ‘hypocrisy’. Wouldn’t want Hippopotamidae to rule the world now, do we?
I agree, those aren’t good as well. But I’m not looking at this from a Pixar vs. Everyting else POV, just design in general. That cover won’t grab anyone’s attention. They should’ve just used the movie poster.
Does cover art really need to grab anybodys attention? Little kids who have seen the movie will know it’s out because of advertisements, and will beg their parents for it when it comes out. And little kids always look over the new release family section at places like Target, THOROUGHLY!!! There doesn’t need to be minions covering the DVD cover in order for kids to see it. Us adults who wants it will know it’s out and pick it up when it’s released. No flashy cover is needed.
^^^ Oh, sorry. I typed that at 3 AM. 
To be honest, I like the TS1+TS2 Anniversary cover art, but I can see why you guys wouldn’t. 
Super excited for the video release, DM has got to be one of my favorite movies of the year.