PLOT- After failing to capture villain Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), Gru (Steve Carell) and Lucy  (Kristen Wiig) are fired from their jobs at the anti-villain league. Gru is devastated and just as he is trying to figure out a new career, he finds out that he has a twin brother, Dru ( Steve Carell).

Their parents divorced when they were babies and each parent took a child. Dru lived with their father on the private island of Fredonia, where he had a successful pig farm as a disguise for the real family profession of villainy. Just as Gru was a disappointment to his mother, Dru was inept at villainy, disappointing their father. Now their father has died and Dru is eager to reconnect with his brother, hoping to get Gru's help to carry on the family business. Gru isn't interested in returning to a life of villainy, but he sees this as an opportunity to work with his brother and take down Bratt. Will Gru redeem himself with the anti-villain league or will he return to a life of villainy?

LIKE- Despicable Me is a fun franchise: Loads of creativity, heartfelt story lines, lovable characters, solid humor, et... I'm happy to report that the third installment was just as enjoyable as the previous films.

I really liked how the film opened with Balthazar Bratt's diamond heist, which used the story device of a television news report to reveal Bratt's backstory. Bratt was a child-actor who played a child villain mastermind/inventor until his successful series was abruptly cancelled due to puberty. Bratt couldn't handle the end to his fame and suffered a mental break where he thought that he was actually the character that he played. Now, as an adult, he is living the life of the character he played, still stuck in the trappings of the 80's. Basically Bratt is akin to a has-been actor like Corey Feldman. As a child of the 80's, I loved all of the references and the music. Excellent soundtrack!

Lucy's struggle as a stepmom and trying to bond, yet not overly spoil the girls, really spoke to me. We saw this film with my step-kids who are visiting for the summer and my husband kept telling me to be like Lucy. There is a great scene at a local fair, where all hell breaks lose as she's watching the girls and they wander into a sketchy pub looking for a unicorn horn. Speaking of kids, my step-kids are nearly eight and ten; they both loved Despicable Me 3. 

Anyone remember the "unicorn" at the Ringling Brother's circus in the 80's? You'll get a kick out of the unicorn-goat. 

DISLIKE- Nothing. Despicable Me 3 is a top-notch family friendly film.

RECOMMEND- Yes! There is nothing like having kids to realize that there are so few films that are truly appropriate and enjoyable for the entire family, but Despicable Me 3 hits every mark. I would have seen this without the kids, but I'm happy we could watch it as a family.