‘Despicable Me 4’ Review
Stars: Steve Carrell, Joey King, Will Ferrell, Miranda Cosgrove | Written by Mike White, Ken Daurio | Directed by Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage
In the fourth installment of the Despicable Me franchise, Gru (Steve Carrell) is officially a dad thanks to Gru Jr., who’s intent on tormenting him. However, peaceful family bliss soon comes grinding to a halt when criminal mastermind Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) — and yet another archnemesis — escapes from prison and vows revenge against Gru.
It’s potentially the challenge of a lifetime to write a compelling, nay in any way descriptive, review of Despicable Me 4. If you are reading this and haven’t yet seen the movie, or even a single second of its latest trailer, you already know exactly what you’re about to read. The film is already one we’ve seen before, countless times over. This time, it’s that little bit worse. The light has faded, and it will continue to do so the longer we wade into this franchise. That’s a bleak take on a kid’s film about a bunch of nonsensical yellow creatures, but it’s true nonetheless.
As fans, we probably stopped believing in Despicable Me 4 around the time Gru got a twin and doubled Carrell’s amount of voiceover work… and probably his paycheck. Here, the role of exactly-the-same-but-different villain is taken on by Will Ferrell, and after his stint in Barbie, it’s a particularly good fit. Nothing the pair do is memorable, or even the franchise’s best, but it’s fun, harmless, and certain to make your kids laugh. It’s a blast of air conditioning after coming in from the heat, only in film form. When we step back outside, we’ll forget we even had those moments of mind-numbing comfort.
Technically, not much has changed from when we first met the minions and their heretical chaos. The animation style is almost untouched, the humour is pitched at a seamlessly same tone, and the storyline itself is the identical twin of films 1,2, and 3, only changing some names. In that instance, Despicable Me 4 will hit all the beats you expect. You’ll say to your friends that it was enjoyable, more than tolerable, funny and sweet, all the while not being able to remember a single second of what you’ve just seen.
But why have we let Despicable Me get four films in, and why do we already know that this installment won’t be the last? The short answer is that the franchise has almost no competition. Nobody except for them is making movies for the very little guy. Disney is marketing its wares for the confused and anxious teen, while other Dreamworks projects like Shrek 5 are likely to head back to where the real kids are — the ones with jobs and responsibilities. With an open playing field, the minions are running wild, regardless of if that’s worth anybody’s time. While they do, we might as well blackout and enjoy the ride.
** 2/5
Despicable Me 4 is in cinemas now.
