“Despicable Me 3” doesn’t live up to the full potential of the last two animated hits, because of how the filmmakers cram some extra subplots in there, and how some come and go. But it still offers the kind of goofy fun kids and parents can enjoy, and even at my age, I still can’t get over those Minions. They just crack me up.

Trey Parker (the co-creator and voice artist of Comedy Central’s adult animated hit “South Park”) voices the new villain: Balthazar Bratt, the former child star of a 1980s super villain kids’ show, who got cancelled because of his puberty. He plans to steal the world’s largest diamond so he can cancel Hollywood for what they did to him.

Steve Carell voices both Gru and Dru, the twin brothers, who were separated at birth, after their mother (voiced by Julie Andrews) and father divorced. They’re happy to see each other, although Dru is more successful than Gru, especially after he and his wife Lucy (voiced by Kristen Wiig) got fired for failing to catch Bratt. Dru wants Gru to help him continue the villainy family tradition, and Gru decides to steal the diamond in order to get his job back.

There could have been less subplots and more focus on the major one. It also involves the Minions in the slammer (the best of the other subplots), Lucy wanting to be a great mom, the eldest daughter Margo (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove) nearly becoming engaged to a fat boy, and the youngest Agnes (now voiced by Nev Scharrel) wanting to find a unicorn, but instead finds a cute one-horned baby goat (I like the way the goat looks).

There are better animated movies out now like “Cars 3” and “Captain Underpants,” because of their narrative and innovation, but I still enjoyed “Despicable Me 3” for its sense of humor, voice acting (Carell, Wiig, and Parker), and 80’s music (with hits from Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, and Madonna; don’t worry Pharrell Williams still has some good hits). I can promise you this: I would rather review “Despicable Me 3” than waste my brain seeing “The Emoji Movie.” Don’t expect a review from me on that.

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Categories: Action, Adventure, Animation, comedy, Family, Sequel