Despicable Me
Opens: July 9th 2010
Cast: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Russell Brand
Director: Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin

Summary: Gru is a supervillain whose arsenal vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad.

Analysis: Not Pixar, Dreamworks or Fox, ‘Despicable’ is from Universal’s new outfit Illumination Entertainment who’re also behind the Russell Brand-led Easter Bunny project “I Hop”. There’s some nice CG design work, a strong voice cast of skilled comedians rather than unnecessary film stars, and two semi-decent teaser trailers so far. Yet with the CG-animated genre so plagued by inferior product these days, it’s hard to get excited for something like this.

Summary: Lemuel Gulliver, a free-spirited travel writer is on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle and suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Liliput, home to a population of industrious, yet tiny, people.

Analysis: Jonathan Swift’s 18th century satire has been translated many times before but usually in mini-series or animated form rather than a live-action feature. So this new adaptation will at least fill that niche, and happens to include a very impressive cast of comedians from the US and UK. Director Rob Letterman’s resume though has been as writer/director on Dreamworks animated features like “Monsters vs. Aliens” and “Shark Tale”, how he’ll do in the live-action arena is anyone’s guess.