Seen at Regal Lacey Cinemas on IMAX on July 3, 2024; movie released on July 3, 2024
Gru is back with more of his despicable plans and hilarious antics in the series’ fourth installment [editor’s note: fifth in the Minions universe, including the prequel film Minions]. The movie is fairly good, with plenty of laughs and slapstick. The Minions continue to steal the show, especially with their line of mischief. Despicable Me 4 is bringing in all the laughs this Fourth of July weekend.
It feels, however, like the movie falls a bit short, and that the studio, Illumination, forced every plot point. The movie is a bit hard to follow. Despicable Me 4 could’ve gone a bit longer. The movie is still lots of fun, though, with all the Minions’ antics. The summer fun is just beginning.
As we dive into this review, please be aware that there are spoilers.
Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and Agnes welcome a new member to the family —Gru Jr.— who is intent on tormenting his dad. Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal and his girlfriend Valentina. Le Mal escaped from prison, forcing Gru’s family to go into hiding in a safe house in the new neighborhood until the AVL (Anti-Villain League) apprehends Le Mal.
How is Gru’s family adjusting to their new life? Will the Mega Minion Project become a success?
I noticed that the film maintained family humor, even though it’s a bit squeezed in. The story is a bit confusing, yet it remains entertaining. I also like how Gru’s ego allows him to stand out, which makes this anti-villain humorous. The funniest thing about Gru is that he likes to stand out no matter what.
The Minions are still enjoyable to watch. The all-star cast adds to it, including John DiMaggio voicing Karl, the AVL bus driver. It’s a very funny yet brief cameo from him.
I like how the Minions dominate with all the slapstick shenanigans. The Mega Minions are also funny in their own way. I also like Gru Junior’s mischievousness throughout the film. It truly is a barrel of laughs. This film is so enjoyable that I wouldn’t mind owning a copy on Blu-Ray.
The studio repeats some of its bad habits in this latest release. Illumination has overstuffed the film with multiple plot points. It also crammed the film full of Illumination Easter Eggs, including the bee squeaky toy from Secret Life of Pets. Even with an all-star cast, they overcrowd the film.
Illumination needs to incorporate a longer running film time. That way, it could balance out the excess and sense of crowdedness in its films. Trim off the excess to ensure better films. If Illumination made its future films longer, maybe they would be more interesting.
I would also enjoy a little extra exposition. Plus, I would’ve appreciated seeing more of the Minions’ mischief. The studio needs to do better than this.
The Minions take center stage once again. During their time at AVL Headquarters, their wacky stunts rise to a new level. Five of the Minions volunteer as test subjects in a new project. They escalate their hijinks, with more tomfoolery at the AVL. I would like to see more of their crazy antics and am looking forward to more of it.
The film is funny enough that I would like to watch it a second time. It performed well at the box office. I had a wonderful time watching this summer flick with its great humor. Illumination could become a rising star at the rate it’s going.
Despicable Me 4 gets 7 out of 10 stars for all its efforts.
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FirstOtter
I wish Universal Studios would understand that it's not Gru we love. It's the Minions. Gru adds nothing but fluff and time. Let's have another movie with nothing but Minions. And cut out the increasingly understandable language..one of the best things about the early Minions was that they were completely unintelligible, and yet we all understood what they were doing. That's all that matters.
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