Steve Carell returns to voice Gru in Despicable Me 4, but does it even matter when Minions are involved? A just-okay entry in the just-okay franchise, we’re a long way from the cleverness of the original. And that’s just fine–like its predecessors, Despicable Me 4 is a mindlessly entertaining romp for small children, with enough gags for grown-ups to enjoy as well.
The plot really doesn’t matter, but the seventh film in the broader franchise (there are three standalone Minions movies) has Gru and family forced into witness protection when one of his arch-enemies escapes from lockup. Complicating matters is Gru’s new teenage neighbor, a wannabe villain who recognizes and subsequently blackmails him. The Minions get into various degrees of trouble as well, as they are wont to do.
At this point, these movies are running on goodwill and silly antics, with little care given to upping the ante. Given the target audience that’s not entirely surprising, but Despicable Me 4 does little to win me over while simultaneously doing very little to turn me off.
Gru is still an amusing character, though ever since he became a good guy his main hook is no longer sharp. The Minions remain the funniest part of this franchise; they do so many weird and stupid things they almost are worthy of their own spin-offs.
My 5-year-old was hooked for a while, though paired with a friend and possessed by too many sugary gummy worms, she spent much of the latter half of the film exploring the near-empty movie theater. While there is no perfect correlation between her antsy demeanor and the quality of the film, she’s usually one to stay focused on the big screen so I was a little surprised by how distracted she became. Maybe it was just the presence of a friend, but then again she just saw Inside Out 2 with a friend and remained intently focused on it throughout.
No doubt she’ll watch Despicable Me 4 a dozen times once it hits home video, and when she does I can think of worse ways to spend my time–but Gru is a better character than the material here. If Universal is content with mediocrity that’s entirely fine, but if that’s the case, maybe they should just stick to the Minions movies from here on out.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.