I am not ashamed to say that I saw Despicable Me, the first showing on the day it came out. I was probably the oldest person in the theater without a chaperone, but I probably laughed more than any of those children.

Despicable Me serves up laughs for children and the child at heart alike.

Everyone knows the hilarious quotes from the advertisements for the film, “We stole the Statue of Liberty! … the small one, from Las Vegas,” or “Does this count as annoying?” (Agnes hits her cheeks making annoying yet adorable noises), but there are plenty more laughs where they came from. Though this film may be for children, there are plenty of subtle jokes slipped in for adults, as well, to accompany the endearing, though predictable, plot.

Steve Carell plays Gru, a downtrodden supervillain in need of a great heist to prove himself, especially after meeting Vector (Jason Segel) who is a young, up-and-coming villain who has recently stolen the Great Pyramid of Giza. Gru resolves to pull off the biggest heist of all time and steal the moon.

Unfortunately, the Bank of Evil will not loan him the funds for such a mission because he does not have the shrink ray that he would need. Gru and his minions (small yellow pill-shaped creatures in overalls and goggles) steal the shrink ray from a secret lab, only to be intercepted on the return trip by Vector, who steals it from them and shrinks their ship.

When Gru returns, he sees three young orphan girls named Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) attempting to sell cookies to Vector. He decides to adopt them and use them to steal back the shrink ray, using cookie-shaped robots designed by Gru’s assistant, Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand). This obviously results in a dramatic theft scene with many almost-foils, but eventually the shrink-ray is regained. Dr. Nafario has the girls taken back to the orphanage after the mission is completed, which is when a predictably more sensitive side of Gru, who is sad to see them go, is revealed. He decides to focus on the moon heist, which coincidently lands on the same day as the girls’ dance recital.

After he shrinks and steals the moon, he goes to the recital, but he is too late and he learns that Vector has kidnapped the girls and will exchange them only for the moon. Insert predictable climactic chase scene and unexpected twist. The shrink ray’s effect is only temporary, so the moon is growing back to its original size. The movie ends on a sad note for Vector and a happy note for Gru and the girls, with their re-adoption and a touchy-feely happy moment for all, complete with a sappy ending of Gru reading them a bedtime story.

Throughout the movie, keep your eyes open for subtle, clever humor, as well. The pyramid that Vector steals is behind his house, painted blue to blend in with the sky; Gru goes for a loan to the “Bank of Evil” which has the subtitle “Formerly Lehman Brothers,”and Gru tells the lady at the orphanage that she looks “Como un burro,” Spanish for “like a donkey.” Clearly, this children’s movie is geared toward a more mature audience, as well.

Overall, this movie is a perfect balance of slapstick, dark and cutesy comedy and is also a good mix of humor, action and heart. The 3D feature was rather unnecessary; nothing really looked incredibly cool in 3D except the credits, which feature the minions doing all sorts of cool-looking 3D things. Despite that, this movie had me laughing all the way through, and I give it 5 stars.