Reformed criminal mastermind Felonious Gru and those twinkly-like creatures known as minions are at it again in “Despicable Me 4.” Our JP reviews the film.
Despicable Me 4
Universal Pictures
- Directed by Chris Renaud
- Written by Mike White, Ken Daurio
- Produced by Chris Meledandri, Brett Hoffman
- Starring Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Sofía Vergara, Steve Coogan, Chris Renaud, Madison Polan, Dana Gaier, Chloe Fineman, Stephen Colbert, Will Ferrell
Studio Synopsis:
In the first Despicable Me movie in seven years, Gru, the world’s favorite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain League-agent, returns for an exciting, bold new era of Minions mayhem in Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4.” Following the 2022 summer blockbuster phenomenon of Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which earned almost $1 billion worldwide, the biggest global animated franchise in history now begins a new chapter as Gru (Oscar® nominee Steve Carrell) and Lucy (Oscar® nominee Kristen Wiig) and their girls —Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Madison Polan)—welcome a new member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad. Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal (Emmy winner Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run.
J.P.’s Take
Reformed criminal mastermind Felonious Gru and those twinkly-like creatures known as minions are at it again in “Despicable Me 4.”
Honestly, the “Despicable Me” series started to grow on me over time due to its fatherhood narrative and zany antics. So it’s no surprise that the folks at Illumination Studios would find a way to keep the shenanigans going. Their new adventure involves Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and his family going into protective custody after an old arch-rival Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) threatens to kidnap baby Gru. Although “DM4” provides all the same slap-stick gags and silly mumbo jumbo uttered by those impish yellow walking pills, the story suffers from an incon”gru”ent (pun intended) and tedious plot.
I appreciated the expansion of the Gru family dynamic; however, the focus on that aspect left me a bit bored. It wasn’t until the last 40 minutes of the movie that we saw baby Gru land in immediate danger. By this time, viewers had been dragged through yet another square-off between another one of Gru’s nemeses for us to care what happens to mini-Gru, as well as, not to mention, the minions break out into a concurrent adventure as they receive superpowers.
What would have been a more logical and funnier plot is baby Gru breaking out into his own adventure, where he becomes the foil to his father’s nemesis. Within that subplot, baby Gru enlists the aid of the minions, as they pair up to nab the villain and save himself and his family. Some inadvertent trappings and takedowns would occur, thus making for a spontaneous exploit. Even though I giggled like a kid throughout the 94-minute film, I found myself getting a bit restless waiting for the conclusion.
The star-studded vocal stylings of Steve Carell (Felonious Gru), Kirstin Wiig (Lucy Wilde), Will Ferrell (Maxime Le Mal), Sofia Vergara (Valentina, Maxime’s femme fatale girlfriend), Stephen Colbert (Perry Prescott), Steve Coogan (Silas Ramsbottom), Chloe Fineman (Patsy Prescott), Miranda Cosgrove (Margo Gru), Pierre Coffin (various minions), Dana Gaier (Edith Gru), Chris Renaud (Principal Übelschlecht), Laraine Newman (Melora), John DiMaggio (Karl the bus driver), Tara Strong (Felonious Gru Jr.), Joey King (Poppy Prescott), Romesh Ranganathan (Dr. Nefario replacing Russell Brand from the previous outings) provided lively and giddy performances.
To be honest, in the end, “Despicable Me 4” wasn’t a terrible outing as a whole … provided the minions stayed in play throughout. It would be nice to see a third Minion sequel arise from this slightly tiresome franchise. Nonetheless, I did have a good laugh from the whole shebang.
Official Site: Despicable Me
