“Despicable Me 4”: A Safe Bet for Illumination

The new installment of the Despicable Me franchise arrives in theaters, offering another entertainment option for families.

Summary

A secret mission for the AVL (Anti-Villain League) ends with the capture of Maxime Le Mal, a villain who has a childhood feud with Gru. Furious by his moment of glory being ruined, Maxime swears to get revenge.

His escape from prison will put Gru’s family, which now includes temperamental baby Gru Jr, in danger. They accept the AVL relocation offer and change their identities to be safe. But pretending to be normal will prove more difficult than expected.

A New Family Member, And Mega-Minions

The movie offers the usual kid-friendly entertainment, with an easy story and cute and colorful animation. We have some new characters, such as Maxime Le Mal and his girlfriend Valentina, Poppy, a teenager who dreams to become a villain, and of course, baby Gru, who steals most of the scenes.

*Gru Jr. is the sweetest little baby… except with his father.*

As expected, there are plenty of scenes of the minions doing nonsensical stuff. The AVL decides to experiment on five of them to create a team of Mega-Minions, a parody of Marvel superheroes, and it doesn’t go very well.

All the villains from previous installments come back for a short cameo, which will be fun for those who have been following the franchise since the beginning.

Just One More Addition to the Franchise

While Despicable Me 4 fulfills its purpose and is entertaining enough, it really offers nothing new.

I’m aware that Illumination creates a certain style of film, focusing more on children than the whole family as a target. I see nothing wrong with that. It has worked for them so far. Besides, when the first two films (the best, in my opinion) came out, I was still part of that target demographic. I’m sure that influences my opinion.

*The Mega-Minions are designed to be superheroes, but they create more problems than they solve.*

But even Minions: The Rise of Gru in 2022 was more enjoyable. In fact, I watched that one in the theater at a late hour, and the place was full of adults having a blast.

I was not expecting depth, but I feel it was less fun than the previous ones. The first two films of the franchise gave the characters a bit more development: Gru becoming an adoptive dad to the girls, and meeting Lucy, for example. The only thing of that kind this time is the improvement of Gru’s relationship with his son.

I don’t know. This one does not convince me.

Box Office: Pixar vs. Illumination

However, there’s no doubt that Despicable Me 4 will attract a lot of attention and bring families to the theaters. Even though the film has already been released in some international markets, it will reach U.S. theaters on July 3rd.

In my country, it has been popular during its opening weekend (it was released on June 20th), but it has been less financially successful than Inside-Out 2, which has now been in theaters for two weeks. So point to Disney this time.

With the wide release next week, there will be more information available.