Despicable Me 4

Despicable Me 4 Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofía Vergara, and Stephen Colbert

Director: Chris Renaud

What’s Good: Illumination’s artistry comes forward in every single shot, and it is hard to dispute that their films do have their own unique style.

What’s Bad: At this point, it seems like the franchise has nowhere to go from a plot perspective, and you might feel tons of déjà vu coming from this installment.

Loo Break: As it is usual with these movies, the second act starts meandering a little, and if you are not the biggest fan of the minions, then their subplot would make for a perfect loo break.

Watch or Not?: Watch only if you have little kids, as they will enjoy it a lot.

Language: English (with subtitles).

Available On: Theaters

Runtime: 95 Minutes.

User Rating:

Opening:

Despicable Me and the Minions have become a millionaire franchise around the world, and at this point an entire generation of people has grown knowing these characters, which is why, for a time, it was interesting to see the franchise trying to grow alongside its audience. However, the new installment in the franchise, Despicable Me 4 seems to have given up and goes full sketch mode, as the overarching plot, if there ever was one, tumbles down to the lowest it has ever been.

Despicable Me 4 Movie Review: Script Analysis

Does Despicable Me need a strong plot? Not at all. We have to remember that even more than the Pixar films, Illumination Entertainment knows that they are making films for little kids, and little kids don’t really need strong themes, intriguing plots, powerful character moments or even continuity, because what they really need is jokes and more jokes, as well as an extreme amount of flashing lights and chaotic antics, all of which are fulfilled by the Minions alone.

Despicable Me 4 sees our main cast of characters facing a new family development, the arrival of a new kid, Gru Jr. and how Gru needs to relate to his first male child. It is an intriguing premise, at least as much as the Despicable Me films can afford, and you would think that the movie would focus on how Gru relates to his first blood child, and how not being completely surrounded by women would feel like. You would think, but instead the movie goes into another “Villain of the week” type of story, and the movie enters into familiar territory almost immediately.

It is hard for a franchise to start changing a formula that has been proven time and again, especially going into its fourth installment, and expecting that change to happen might be a waste of time. The Despicable Me franchise is the gold mine of Illumination Entertainment, and you definitely don’t mess with that, especially at this point where the franchise might lose old fans as they are getting older, and needs to attract as many new viewers as possible.

Outside the clear lack of ideas for its central cast of characters, the rest of the writing does what it does best and sets up a bunch of comedy skits where Gru, the villain of the week, and the Minions go out of their way to display their chaotic nature and just create a fairly decent and entertaining example of slapstick comedy, while the plot develops and ends in the way you surely expected from the very beginning, no surprises there.

Despicable Me 4 Movie Review: Star Performance

Despicable Me can now afford to have an amazing cast of actors behind the voices of their main cast of characters, with the always fantastic Steve Carell leading the march with Gru, a character that will forever be associated with him and his brand. It is nice to hear Carell coming in true form as Gru after The Minions: The Rise of Gru, and it seems the actor is just having a great time with the role, as always. There isn’t much for Carell to do in a dramatic sense, but he hits every mark like the professional he is.

From the newcomers to the franchise, Joey King stands out as Poppy, a character that almost reaches the annoying territory, but thankfully, she and the writers know how to step back just enough to keep her walking that tightrope. Meanwhile, Will Ferrell offers exactly what you would expect from him as the villain of the week, Maxime Le Mal, a character that is for sure tapping into some Mugatu’s energy, Ferrell’s character in the Zoolander franchise.