Like others, I thought the movie started out slow and after 5 minutes, was dreading the rest of the 90 minutes. However, in about that time, the story shifted into gear and didn't let up. I didn't expect much more than a cutesy movies written around the yellow minion characters seen in the advertising. The story was unexpectedly heart-warming. The young girls were all three different and added a lot to the believability of the movie. I hate movies in general, because they are predicatable. I felt Despicable Me was unpredictable. The characters are creative while the emotions and excitement didn't disappoint.
I recommend Despicable Me for any age group. I went with my sons (9 and 12) who loved it. The 3-D seemed to help the story rather than adding see-what-we-can-do hokey tricks. I hope this is a creative set of characters that can somehow end up on the big screen again someday. I plan on buying this for home viewing as soon as it is released.
The movie was a great! The action keeps coming, which is what my 10-year old lives for.
There is a lot of focus on gorgeous girls, which is targeted for an older audience. A dorm is custom-selected for "hot chicks." There is quite a bit of language in the case this is a concern for you. As a parent seeing the movie at the theater could be your best bet. Buying this on on DVD may repeat a lot of what you don't want for your younger kids to see and hear.