CASEY PHILLIPS: I used to think it was impossible for an animated character to be as endearing and heart-wrenchingly cute as Boo from “Monsters, Inc.” Then I saw “Despicable Me’s” wide-eyed orphan, Agnes.
Nevermind the hideously exaggerated Russian accent of Gru (Steve Carell), this little ball of adorable (voiced by Elsie Fisher) and her fellow orphans, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) and Edith (Dana Gaier), are the real show stealers. They manage to be cute but not saccharine, which is quite an accomplishment.
Were it not for these orphans and Gru’s army of babbling, slapstick “minions,” the film’s otherwise vanilla, predictable plot wouldn’t have stood out in this summer’s crowd of animated flicks. As it is, they keep Gru off-balance, turning a potential snoozer into a hilarious, surprisingly touching film.
HOLLY LEBER: Yes, little Agnes and her cohorts will make that biological clock tick even louder. If only human women could gestate cherubic cartoon babes. I want an Agnes even more than I wanted a baby ogre after seeing “Shrek Forever After.” She certainly gives classic cartoon cherubs like Pebbles Flintstone and Cindy Lou Who a run for their money. A scene where she expresses her overwhelming glee at a fluffy stuffed unicorn is one of the funniest, cutest moments of the film. And mildly disturbing. But she’s so darling.