The Despicable Me franchise hasn’t been giving movies that could create the same level of entertainment compared to its first part. The repetitiveness and the over-dependency on minions had made the films less exciting on an anticipation level. When it comes to Despicable Me 4, it is definitely enjoyable. But how much of it is memorable due to its plot or uniqueness is kind of debatable. With a runtime of 96 minutes and some superhero spoofing along with typical minion humor, it is an ideal watch with your toddler.
Gru and his family are living happily, and he now has a kid. The happy family had to take cover when one of the undercover missions for AVF to capture Gru’s school-time nemesis, Maxime Le Mal, had a flawed execution. The series of events that happens during the new life in a new neighborhood for Grun and his family is what we see in Despicable Me 4.
We do get our fair share of laughter while watching this fourth installment. But the movie lacks that organic flow in constructing set pieces. For instance, there is a parallel track of the minions in the film as they are taken to AVF headquarters. I actually liked how the makers used that portion to make fun of superhero genre cliches and, to an extent, toxic work culture in corporate offices. But the disjoint nature of that track is kind of making you think that it is not integral to the story. It is actually the humor, both slapstick and verbal, that is saving the movie from being an isolated collection of ideas.
Steve Carell reprises his voice for Gru, and the man makes the performance hilarious with his funny accent. Kristen Wiig is there as Gru’s partner, Lucy Wilde. Pierre Coffin, as always, made the minions sound hilarious. The new addition to the cast includes Will Ferrell as Maxime Le Mal, Joey King as Poppy Prescott, and Sofía Vergara as Valentina, along with popular TV host Stephen Colbert.
The lack of a solid story and the temptation to go after hilarious set pieces is the shortcoming here. As I already said, the sequences and scenes on an isolated level as YouTube clips are extremely funny, and I could see the little ones sitting next to me having a great laugh. But the writing is not much bothered about having an interesting story and connecting all the sequences into the plot. Maxime Le Mal, the villain, is kind of forgotten immediately after his introduction, and in order to bring him back, they are plugging another character into the story, and the way Gru ends up at the doorsteps of that other character has a very forced feel to its credit.
Despicable Me 4 is enjoyable for sure, but not necessarily memorable. The choreographed slapsticky humor predominantly featuring the minions was the USP of the movies in this franchise, and now it has become more of a UPS as the writing of the film lacks inventiveness, and the studio is approaching it more like a sure-shot money-making franchise.
With a runtime of 96 minutes and some superhero spoofing along with typical minion humor, it is an ideal watch with your toddler.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
