DVD: Despicable Me (U)

Universal's animation begins promisingly with a delicious visual gag – a plump redneck boy bouncing off an inflatable Egyptian pyramid; the real pyramid has been pilfered by a villainous pipsqueak, Vector (Jason Segel).

This daring heist infuriates super-villain Gru (Steve Carell), so he hatches a fiendish plan to steal the Moon, with the help of his army of minions and Dr Nefario (Russell Brand), an unhinged scientist. However, his dastardly scheme is complicated by the arrival of three orphaned girls on his doorstep. The young charges, of course, soften the arch-criminal's wicked heart. Despicable Me isn't as cute or as funny as thinks it is, but it has some lovely sequences and a good heart.