There's just not that much effort put in here, I think they just what's absolutely essential in order to make sure the kids are distracted, but they don't go all out like they did for How To Train Your Dragon 2. It's obvious that they don't consider this to be a top-quality project and that is evidence by the execution of the film. This, and other films like the Croods or Turbo, are clearly B-team offerings from DreamWorks. Not saying that this film was easy to make, because it was anything but easy, but it feels like there wasn't as much effort put into this film as, say, other DreamWorks animated films. It's clearly not meant to compete with the Toy Storys or the How to train your Dragons of the world. This is mostly meant as a diversion, more than anything else.

But the fact that the film is sweet does not make up for the fact that it's probably a very generic story and even more generic execution. It doesn't feel forced or contrived, like you would see in so many of these films. I think this film succeeds at mostly building a sweet friendship between the two lead characters and it actually feels earned. I know that's a shitty reason to give one film the nod over the other, but I also genuinely enjoyed this than either of the Despicable Me movies. Expectations were, at least, a bit more realistic when it came to this film. I have to give the nod to this film over Despicable Me if only for the fact that Despicable Me, at least the first one, was very positively received and even compared to Pixar films. But, in terms of quality, there's nothing much separating those two films from one another. The only difference is the fact that, at least, this film doesn't have insufferably annoying mascots like the Minions.

Perhaps that's a little strong to say, but this film is really no better than either of the Despicable Me films. But, as the cliche goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This is a movie that certainly means well, it's sweet and it's, honestly, one of the most harmless films you could show your children, if that's what you go for, instead of showing them quality films.

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