Review: Despicable Me 3 Explores The Meaning of Family From All Angles

Let’s start this by saying, me and my kids wore our matching Minions underwear to see Despicable Me 3. We are the target market. And, superficially, it hit the mark. The wee people I was with liked it as evidenced by their near silence and unmovable sack-of-uselessness behavior during the film. If we’re grading the movie on that, then A+. This third window into the life of loveable curmudgeon, and mostly-reformed villain, Gru continues exploring its familiar themes: the meaning of family, non-biological parenthood, loyalty, and (surprisingly) nature vs. nurture. First, I want to say I’m here for any movie that highlights that families can be made in so many ways. Gru is still a doting father to his three girls: Edith, Agnes, and Margo. His fatherhood isn’t even a question. They are his girls and since the first movie my dude has been willing to risk his life for them. Lucy, however, is still trying to figure out what it means to be a (step)mom. We spent a fair amount of time in DM2 looking at what it means to be a kid who has never (to our knowledge) had a mother. And we ended that movie, of course, on the up note of Agnes reciting a poem about moms while Lucy fought back tears.

The biggest twist on family here, though, is the introduction of Dru, Gru’s long lost twin brother. Who has hair. And is (kind of) evil. And has hair. Dru’s desire to be as evil as Gru once was helps drive the plot as the brothers engage with Balthazar Bratt, the big bad in this installment. This ch…