Despicable Me 4, the next sequel to the Despicable Me series, returns to the big screen and delivers another entertaining film for the family.

Fitting In

© Illumination and Universal Pictures

The film starts off with Gru, voiced by Steve Carell (The Office, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) returns to his alma mater where he confronts his school rival, Maxime, voiced by Will Ferrell (Elf, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy). Maxime wins an award during the ceremony but is taken down by Gru and the Anti-Villain League (AVL).

However, the new villain doesn’t stay in prison long. After escaping, he sets his revenge on Gru. Prompting the AVL to relocate Gru and his family to a new location, with new names, new jobs, and a new public school until Maxime is taken under custody (again).

Each family member and their growing pains regarding their new environment gets some of the spotlight. Lucy, voiced by Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Zoolander 2), is excited about her new job as a hairstylist but comes to realize quickly it’s not the right role for her. Gru’s new role is a solar panel seller but is quite terrible trying to fit in and talking to his new neighbors. Additionally, Gru now has more time to spend with the baby in the family, who happens to despise Gru throughout the film, causing him problems like not listening to his father.

The two youngest daughters in the family are getting used to their new karate teacher in their new town. The oldest daughter struggles to fit in but the movie doesn’t dive into her situation much. Instead, the popular rich girl and neighbor to Gru, Poppy Prescott, voiced by Joey King (We Were the Lucky Ones, Bullet Train), picks on her but quickly learns about Gru’s past accomplishments as an ex-super villain, thanks to the internet. Poppy is inspired to become a villain and blackmails Gru to help her kidnap Gru’s villain high school’s mascot, a live honey badger. The mini adventure with the unlikely team of Gru, Poppy, Gru Jr., and the minions is surprisingly fun.

At first, Poppy felt like a character to despise, but as the movie spends more screen time on her and develops her character, you begin to enjoy her. The film’s villain is also entertaining with his ability to command a swarm of cockroaches. However, in regards to Gru’s daughters, they hardly get any screen time nor does the audience really see how they fare with the change. Instead, outside the minions, the film focuses more on Gru, his son, and the new sidekick, Poppy.

The film does a great job tying everything back together and feels complete. With the many scenarios, new likable characters, Despicable Me 4 is an improvement from the third film.

Minion Power!

© Illumination and Universal Pictures

The majority of the minions were relocated to AVL headquarters and a few went with Gru and family to their new relocation. The ones that accompanied Gru continue their comic antics such as getting stuck in the vending machine and being a referee for a tennis match.

The rest of the minions at AVL continue to cause mischief there. Surprisingly, the AVL didn’t toss them all out. At AVL, a few selected minions were exposed to a serum that gave each one a super power, for example, flying and laser beams from the eyes. The idea was for the AVL to use these minions as superheroes to take down crime, but little did they know, it was going to cause problems no matter what they did, causing more damage than helping.

There’s honestly a lot going on in Despicable Me 4, and it’s sometimes overwhelming. However, it certainly keeps things rolling between Gru, the “superhero” minions, and Gru’s family. At times, the movie focuses too much on jokes by either having them run too long or by repeatedly using them with diminishing returns. Comedy is good and all, but there still needs to be a great story about characters we care about first and foremost.

Continuing the Style

The world of Despicable Me 4 continues to be very vibrant. The character designs that have carried the series for years still work well here. Moreover, the orchestrated soundtrack works well with each scene, enhancing the action and never taking away from character moments or the story. If you were expecting something different, you won’t find it. Illumination plays it safe with what’s already been successful for this series.

The Final Revenge

Despicable Me 4, like its predecessors, is another family friendly and fun mission with Gru’s ever-growing team of misfits. The new characters are great, and the jokes are abundant, even if some side characters are thrown in the backseat as a result. As long as things don’t get too out of control, the series will remain strong. Wonderful us!

An early screening provided for this review. Despicable Me 4 hits theaters on July 3, 2024.