New on DVD & Blu-ray for December 5, 2017 "Despicable Me 3" and "American Assassin"

Despicable Me 3

Starring: Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig

Rated PG 

Everyone is back for a 3rd go-round in this charming animated film about finding family, finding yourself and finding out what's important in life, as Gru loses his job but discovers he has a long lost brother, who wants to connect.

The brothers decide that they will go after the mastermind criminal responsible for Gru losing his job.

Together with Gru's wife Lucy, their adopted daughters and the minions, they embark on a quest to settle the score.

“Despicable Me 3” is well worth seeing. It gets a B and is rated PG.

American Assassin

Starring: Dylan O'Brien and Micheal Keaton

Rated R 

A young man, who witness the brutal murder of his fiance, is trained to be a counter-terrorist agent by the CIA.

Totally formulaic, "American Assassin" is kind of that catch-all film that steals from several sources but never finds a voice of its own. The film is trying to too much for the audience to like it. And in the end begins to battle itself.

Dylan O'Brien puts in a dutiful job as "Mitch Rapp." But is limited by a short-sighted script and virtually nothing to do but deliver speeches about how inefficient the government is in handling terrorism.

Michael Keaton takes on the role of "Stan Hurley," the hard-as-nails Special Forces trainer who is tasked with the job of training Rapp and molding him into a true CIA agent. Keaton's character keeps spouting the cliche line "never make it personal," to his trainees, and yet, that's all he does.

"American Assassin" isn't a great film. It's only a mediocre one at best and with nothing to make the film memorable, it gets a C and is rated R.