“Despicable Me” has a certain Saturday morning cartoon feel to it that is both nostalgic and fresh at the same time. I kept expecting the film’s focus, a soft villain named Gru, to get crushed by an anvil at one point and pop back up with that classic, surreal accordion gag. It would have seemed comically natural in a film where the funniest thing about the villains is that they aren’t really that villainous to begin with, and their exploits to prove themselves as evil arrive at the zenith of zaniness.

“Despicable Me” is a madcap, enthusiastically fun animated film with a touching dash of heart; it’s this year’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” but with far less raining food. Steve Carell, with an accent reminiscent of a bad SNL character, voices Gru, an oversized oaf who dreams of becoming the top villain in the world despite his efforts constantly being thwarted by another villain named Vector (Jason Segal).

In a plan to infiltrate Vector’s fortress, Gru adopts three young girls, all sisters, and uses them, while the poor orphans innocently assume they’ve finally found a home and family. As one could probably predict, Gru’s heart grows in a Grinch-like fashion, and the little girls become his family.

There’s a conflict to this relationship, and then there’s a satisfying resolution. There’s nothing really surprising plot-wise in “Despicable Me,” but it’s a fun trip to the theater for anyone seeking an enjoyable family film and doesn’t feel like bawling their eyes out for the umpteenth time at “Toy Story 3.

I guess you could say I had a good time. Gru is a fun character resembling the homely affability of “Shrek” when he first hit screens (let’s just hope he doesn’t meet his demise through dreadful sequels). His minions, Twinkie-shaped yellow blobs with goofy goggles, lead the film’s comical flow with dialogue-free slapstick; it’s stupid and silly, but if you let yourself just enjoy it, it’s comedy gold.

But the highlight is Agnes, the youngest of the three sisters; that golden, cute-as-a-button animated character that immediately reminds you of someone in your own life. She’s adorably annoying, irresistibly innocent, and her enthusiastic excitement over how fluffy a stuffed unicorn is at an amusement park is probably the film’s greatest moment.

Unnecessarily displayed in 3-D, “Despicable Me” is the type of 3-D film that occasionally resorts to the cheap gimmicks of the technology, making it at times more of a novelty than it should be. A humorous gag during the credits seems to poke fun at the whole 3-D craze, and it’s fairly successful, but all in all, the technology is still a dead and redundant fad. Stop turning movies into some cheap interpretation of “The Matrix;” two dimensions are plenty.

(Three stars)

Greg Vellante is a graduate of North Andover High School who is currently attending UMass Lowell. He has been reviewing and writing about movies for The Eagle-Tribune since 2007.