Review: Despicable Me 4
Review: Despicable Me 4
Things Just Got A Little More Despicable
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Despicable Me 4. Keep in mind this is but one of the many movies I watch every year, and that whatever initial grade I come up for this film could change for better or worse with time. To better keep up to date with both my thoughts on other movies and if my feelings on this film changed, follow me on Letterboxd.
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QUICK NOTE
A previous blank template version of this review was accidently sent to the email inboxes of all subscribers. Apologies, that was not supposed to go out. I had forgotten to unschedule it after my plans to catch the movie on the morning of the 4th were delayed.
THE PLOT
Via Letterboxd: Gru and Lucy, and their girls (Margo, Edith and Agnes) 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 and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina, and the family is forced to go on the run.
QUICK REVIEW
By all intents and purposes it seems this will be the final movie in the Despicable Me franchise. That probably elicits cheers from some who have found these movies to play too much towards the simple, and at times cringe, humor of small children and less towards the kind of smart and inclusive comedy that Pixar films tend to pull off. It also might be a bit sad for those who have grown up with these films as part of their childhood. I for one am indifferent as I neither grew up with these movies or outright dislike them.
But I' also wouldn’t claim to be a major fan of them as well. I do think the humor is lazy and too childish at times, I do think at a certain point you see one of these movies and you’ve kinda’ seen them all, I do think the characters have had practically no growth whatsoever through four main films and two spinoffs (How have these girls not age after 14 years?). I wasn’t in a rush to watch them, and after binging them all in preparation of watching this new one (Though I did watch and review Minions: The Rise Of Gru last year), I can’t claim I’m in a rush to re-watch them.
But that’s not to say I still didn’t enjoy myself either. There were times the humor hit with me, (most of) the villains are fun characters, and I never found myself dreading going through these. I actually did want to see how things would end for our protagonists.
Having watched these four main films for the franchise I came away understanding why these aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I still kinda liked them in the way you like a McDonalds meal. It’s not anything special, but it’ll hit the spot for a fleeting moment.
There are some interesting new things this fourth film does. The idea of putting Gru and his family in witness protection and playing around with what that could look like was something I’d give them props for. There’s also a surprising subplot regarding one of Margo’s classmates that almost gave me American Beauty vibes, and had me sweating about where it was going. And the jokes around the Mega Minions and superhero fatigue came off smarter than I think some give them credit for.
But the movie does try to have a lot of subplots happening all at once, and at times struggles to juggle them all. This leads to certain subplots for the side characters’ to get thrown to the wayside too easily in favor of whatever antics Gru finds himself in. This was also an issue in the third movie.
There’s also the big disappointment that even with Will Ferrell behind the microphone, this film’s villain is easily the worst and least interesting of them all.
But what you ultimately end up with is what you think you’re going to get from this movie anyways. This is a Despicable Me film and that means you either aren’t a fan or you can enjoy it enough to get some chuckles out of it. I think kids will like this for what it is, and I have to confess I found this more engaging than I did other animated duds from this year such as Megamind VS The Doom Syndicate or The Tiger’s Apprentice or The Garfield Movie. I give Despicable Me 4 exactly what I give all the other movies in this franchise, a soft B. Not a B-, but not a B+ either - just a straight up B. You should pretty much know what you’re getting yourself into if you go see this at your local theatre or put it on when it shows up on Peacock in a few months.
INITIAL GRADING
