’Despicable Me 4’ review: More Minion mayhem and gags with Gru

By no means an amazing accomplishment, Despicable Me 4 still has a solid set of laughs with Gru and friends.

It’s impossible to overstate the cultural impact that the Despicable Me franchise has had on pop culture. Think of the general perception of the word “minion,” for instance: not just the loyal accomplice to a villain but now the yellow TicTac shaped characters that are synonymous with the saga. As the stories of Gru, his family, and the Minions approach their sixth installment, it’s easy to wonder whether too much of a good thing is possible or if Despicable Me has jumped the shark.

The answer is no, it hasn’t. The franchise remains successful by doing what it does best: appealing to wide audiences with Looney Tunes-style zany vignettes that sometimes coalesce around a semblance of plot structure. Despicable Me 4 is the latest example of this: an effective family-friendly sequel that plays to the franchise’s strengths, sometimes at the expense of narrative structure, ultimately proving to be a fun time at the movies.

The script from Mike White (School of Rock, The White Lotus) and Ken Daurio (Schmigadoon!) catches up with Gru (Steve Carell) starting a family with his wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and continuing his work with the Anti-Villain League (AVL) to protect the world from an ever-changing array of villains. During an undercover mission at Gru’s high school reunion (set in the Hogwarts-style castle Lycée Pas Bon), he encounters an old rival: Maxime le Mal (Will Ferrell), a French-accented, cockroach-obsessed villain whom Gru helps arrest. After le Mal swears revenge and escapes an AVL prison, Gru and his family (including the new baby Gru Jr.) go into witness protection in the idyllic town of Mayflower. There, they must try to remain anonymous and seem like a normal family.

The many faces of Gru and co. 

What ensues is a series of unrelated vignettes full of the characteristic slapstick humor of Despicable Me. Some of them are about parenting, whether it’s Gru’s worsening attempts to blend-in that embarrass Margo, or Edith and Agnes causing havoc in a karate dojo. Some are insignificant, like a client chasing Lucy through a supermarket after she mishandles a haircut in her new job. And then there’s the neighbor’s daughter blackmailing Gru into stealing a honey badger from his old high school, which is just baffling. Even the Minions, now working for the AVL, test pilot a super-serum program for more unrelated hijinks. Characters come and go, though rarely do any of these sequences thread together into a cohesive plot. Instead, it all feels like multiple short films strapped together.

There are some standard story beats about Gru feeling disconnected from his baby and the backstory of Gru’s and le Mal’s rivalry. Yet, all of these elements take a backseat in favor of the episodic sequences of Gru and his family adapting to Mayflower. In the movie’s defense, these chaotic vignettes have become the franchise’s strength and continue to be hilarious and creative 14 years on. For instance, after a Minion confuses two bags, Gru is forced to conduct a heist using only baby supplies like diaper clips and talcum powder. The scene’s structure around the different supplies is fascinating. Later in the movie, the super-powered MegaMinions test their powers and find all the ways to be unhelpful while referencing scenes like the famous train rescue from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, only to arrive late when the story needs them.

Sticking to a winning formula.

It would be easy to dismiss all of these as lazily-written deviations from the plot, but the point of these movies is not to explore any profound thematic elements. Franchise veteran Chris Renaud (now with co-director Patrick Delage) has ironed out a formula that amuses and cemented them as pop culture icons, allowing the members of Gru’s family to remain in the spotlight while the Minions sprinkle gags into the equation. It’s a solid collection of giggles, ranging from an F1 pit crew that changes diapers to a Minion trapped in a vending machine throughout the movie. It’s all quite effective, especially with Pierre Coffin’s masterful performance of all the Minions.

While there is merit in this judicious approach to a winning formula, there are also some key areas where Despicable Me 4 falls short of its predecessors. The charming family dynamics that characterized some of the early installments are greatly missed, especially with the potential that Gru Jr. provides. Also, the character designs of the background figures lean too heavily on the cartoonish and become jarring. Moreover, some of the animation choices, like the introduction of soft focus and the deployment of more realistic techniques in the background or in le Mal’s army of cockroaches, create a stylistic dissonance with the rest of the elements of the film. Yet, most of these are salvaged by the excellent voice acting and frantic pace.

The Bottom Line.

There are no expectations of profound themes in the Despicable Me franchise, just effective slapstick Minion mayhem. Despicable Me 4 manages to achieve this, and while there are some odd stylistic choices, ultimately it’s an effective sequel that sticks to the formula and delivers family-friendly laughs.

Despicable Me 4 is now playing in theaters everywhere. You can watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment. You can read more reviews from Pedro Luis Graterol here.