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Even though Han Solo basically broke the mold more than three decades ago, antiheroes have continued to be a tough sell to moviegoers. As complicated as personalities are in real life, we seem to like our good guys good and bad guys bad, and seldom if ever do the two meet, or even advance toward some sort of middle ground. Suffice it to say this is an even tougher challenge where kids’ or kid-friendly movies are concerned; parents might embrace a bit of complexity at the cinema, but preteens can be particularly oblivious to shades of grey, and don’t frequently find themselves rooting for the real hero to lose. As such, it’s no overstatement to say the new animated film Despicable Me](Despicable Me (2010) - Movie | Moviefone) has an uphill battle en route to the hearts and minds of mainstream audiences.
Having recently previewed several scenes from the forthcoming film, however, it would appear that despicable is anything but the right word to describe Gru, its main character. Universal recently invited Cinematical to join a coterie of reporters at the Santa Monica production offices of Illumination Entertainment for a special screening of scenes from the film, as well as an opportunity to chat with producer Chris Meledandri. What we saw were the early stages of one of this summer’s almost predestined destination movies for family audiences, which is sure to hold at least a little interest from older audiences thanks to a voice cast that includes contemporary comedy mainstays like Steve Carell, Russell Brand, and Jason Segel.
“It’s safe to root for someone to steal the moon,” Meledandri explains when asked whether audiences will want this super-villain to stay villainous.
[Continue reading Footage First-Look: Steve Carell’s ‘Despicable Me’](http://www.cinematical.com/2010/02/12/despicable-me-footage-steve carell/)