Despicable Me 3 features the same principal characters as the first and second installments, and raises the stakes by adding a couple of new wannabe villains to the mix. Sadly, the outcome is a humourless misadventure.
The evil genius-turned-superspy (Steve Carell) discovers that he has a twin brother (also voiced by Carell) who is determined to continue their father’s criminal legacy.
Enter a megalomaniacal thief (Trey Parker) who is still obsessed with the sinister persona he portrayed as a TV child star in the 1980s.
Extolling the virtues of old-fashioned family values — the anti-hero’s wife (Kristen Wiig) and their three adopted children contribute to the hubbub — the story sputters to a predictable conclusion.
On a more positive note, the goofy, goggle-wearing, gibberish-spouting minions (the entire horde is dubbed by co-director Pierre Coffin) prove to be scene-stealers once again.
Old-timer Julie Andrews fetches up in a cameo. The voice cast is uniformly expressive.
But the directing trio seems content to serve up a mishmash of candy-coloured backdrops, sentimental life lessons and interminable slapstick. The action scenes, which are not even remotely exciting, are stretched to the point of tedium.
At most, Despicable Me 3 may pass muster with the targeted teeny-bopper demographic.