Despicable Me 3 (2017)

After the hilarious second film in this franchise did rather well again, it only stood to reason that there would be a third installment. But unfortunately, the third isn't the charm this time around.

Not that this is bad, but it's just not as good as the second, or even the first.

Gru and Lucy get fired from the Anti Villain League because they fail to capture a new supervillain, Balthazar Bratt. Bratt is a former child actor (ooh, get the reference with his last name? Well, do ya, punk?) who plots to get his revenge on Hollywood after cancelling his show because his voice broke. In the meantime, Gru discovers he has a twin brother called Dru who wants to catch up and make up for lost time.

See, it's here that the film starts to fall apart some. Why juggle two storylines if one would have been enough? It's here that the film really suffers, because if that wasn't enough, the Minions quit and now suddenly you have three storylines that don't even connect all that much and it all becomes a jumbled mess. What's also a shame is that there are still some chuckle moments, but this one just isn't as funny as the previous one. A real shame, actually, because of course there's always a lot of promise with a franchise such as this.

Something that also works against this one, is the constant refencing of the 80s. That's all well and good if you're like me a kid from that era and so you'll get it, but how are little kids ever going to understand unless someone spells it out? I mean, it's funny seeing Balthazar Bratt moonwalk across a ship, but for anyone not that familar with Michael Jackson, this will seem absolutely bizarre. I also feel that Trey Parker as Bratt wasn't the most inspired choice. I mean, no offense to Parker, but I've grown so accustomed to his voice in 'South Park' that here he seems a little off.

It's a shame there's not a lot more to say about this one. Kids will still love it and adults will get a chuckle here and there, but it doesn't come close to the second one.