Despicable Me 4 Review
Gru returns, with an ever growing brood, in this fourth installment of more-of-the-same from Illumination.
Gru (Steve Carrell) is loving his new family life with his wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig), three girls and his new son Gru Jr; despite the fact that his son doesn’t seem to share the love back towards Gru. But their pretty picture is shattered when Maxime (Will Ferrel) - a super villain Gru and the Anti-Villain League put away in the film’s cold open - busts out of high security prison, intent on destroying Gru and everything he holds dear. Gru and the family go into witness protection, hiding out in a small town where Gru becomes Chet, a solar panel salesman. They are safe, or at least that is unless Poppy (Joey King), a local teenager who happens to be an evil-groupie, outs them.
Despicable Me 4 continues the party that has been so successful for animation studio Illumination. There’s all the classic hits played; witty banter, ridiculous antics from the yellow hued minions, and the fun take on ‘villainy’ and ‘evil’ that makes it palatable to all audiences. For kids, this will probably be a smash hit again - an easy watch, with plenty of fun to be had.
Some of the most successful moments come from Gru’s interactions with his young son, who hates his Dad with a burning passion. Every time it comes up, it lands, so that is a strong plus in the film’s favor. The always-a-hit minions also continue to be a highlight, much more palatable on screen than they are in your Great Aunt’s Facebook feed as memes, and in this film a few of them get turned into superpowered versions of their yellow selves, which adds another dimension.
There is a decided case here of way too much going on. The film is overstuffed to the max, and the plot is extremely thin - not only retreading old water (we are now 3 films and 2 spin-offs into this series after all), but also adding a million unexplored hints and threads. And the franchise seems loathe to give any great depth to any of the main characters - outside of Gru having a fourth kid, this film sees our characters largely unchanged from the previous.
That being said, there is something nice about a movie that doesn’t try to make you feel anything but lighthearted entertainment and the occasional laugh. Kids will love the minions, as always, and there’s enough here to turn your brain off and like the pretty colours when you take them.
