Despicable Me 3: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
After Gru is fired from the Anti-Villain League for failing to take down Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), the latest evil mastermind to threaten humanity, he finds himself in the midst of a major identity crisis. But when a mysterious stranger shows up to inform Gru that he has a long-lost twin brother — a brother who desperately wishes to follow in his twin’s despicable footsteps — the former super-villain rediscovers just how good it feels to be bad.
There are moments when a franchise gets a few films in and it just seems like a rehash of films we’ve seen before. Thankfully with the Despicable Me franchise they managed to keep it pretty fresh for the most part. There are parts of familiarity so people will be able to attach themselves to it but it felt like a proper continuation of the story. I have been personally been waiting to see when/if Gru was going to be “tempted by the darkside” again and I liked that battle that was shown. Now it wasn’t complex or anything but the indecisiveness from him was a great story element. The Minions were cute and funny as always and so were Gru’s girls so it was a no brainer as far as entertainment goes. Carrell has really found a great character that he can play with and he always feels like he’s extremely comfortable in his role as Gru. In addition, I thought Parker did really great as well. His character had an 80’s gimmick that would strike a chord with some parents out there. All in all I felt like this was a really good sequel. It doesn’t top the other 2 films in the franchise by far but I do think that the way that this movie was positioned as an entertaining transition to possibly another Minions sequel or maybe another spin-off and that’s perfectly fine with me. 7/10
4K Presentation:
There are plenty of hits and misses when it comes to this format but thankfully this one is a hit. Now, it’s not a huge improvement from the standard Blu-ray but it is enough to see that there is a change. There’s some great cases of improved clarity including details on the walls (cracks and textures), scratches on a robot in the film and so much more. Also with an animated film like this colors are a big thing and they are definitely boosted quite a bit here and everything looks so awesomely vibrant. Like I said, there isn’t extreme improvements but there are enough to make you say “Wow”.
Special Features:
Character Profiles – Five different features that involve the cast talking about and sharing their thoughts on each character.
The Making Of – A short feature with that cast and crew talking about the production.
Mini-Movie – The Secret Life Of Kyle is a really cute short that involves Gru’s dog on the search for love.
Developing Dru – Another small feature that looks at developing the new character in the film.
Despicable Me TV – 3 fake commercials based on scenes from the film.
Minion Moments – Really quick shorts with the Minions doing what Minions do.
Sing-Along – A small sing along to the main portion of Pharrell’s song “Doowit”.
Minion Mug Shots – A gallery of photos with the characters in jail.
Wanted Posters – Pretty much the same as above just as Wanted Posters.
Freedonia Visitors Guide – An interactive feature that gives information on the fictional country.
Music Video – Pharrell – Yellow Light
Deleted Scene – One scene here with an intro by Dana Gaier.
