The Despicable Me franchise continues its roller-coaster trajectory. The now-iconic Minions have taken over entire areas of theme park culture, and deliver multi-billion dollar hits. At the same time, Despicable Me 4 hopes to correct a worrying decline around stories involving Gru (Steve Carrell) and his family. While the Minions: Rise of Gru surprised some as a return to form, Despicable Me does not continue the positive momentum. Instead, it feels like a lackluster, lazy sequel that plays more like a series of vignettes than a cohesive story.
Picking up after the birth of Gru Jr., Despicable Me 4 catches up with Gru in Dad mode. Despite committing to family life, he helps the Anti-Villain League bust one of their most-wanted criminals during an alumni dinner for his villain school. However, the villain is one of Gru’s sworn rivals – a half-roach Frenchman named Maxime (Will Ferrell). When Maxime escapes, the AVL sends Gru, Lucy (Kristen Wiig), and the girls into witness protection. However, in their new small town, next-door neighbor Poppy Prescott (Joey King) wants to earn villain cred of her own. She blackmails Gru into helping her while Lucy works as a hairdresser, the girls struggle to adjust, and the Minions become super-soldiers (the Mega-Minions).
If that sounds like a lot to plop into a 95-minute movie, Despicable Me somehow feels both rushed and loose. Some plot threads get introduced as potential pitfalls, such as Agnes’ unwillingness to lie, only to be dropped halfway through the movie. There are questions about how Gru’s past work could affect the family, especially given that they go into hiding and the girls struggle to make new friends at school.
Rather than explore that dynamic, Gru gets pushed into a side-quest with a character we’ve never met on an adventure that puts them in a position to get caught. It may be unfair, but The Incredibles features the same basic setup. That movie milks the strife that would create. Despicable Me 4 rarely takes a breath before launching into its next slapstick bit.
Even side gags feel like they were once important in a previous version of the movie, only to be rewritten at some point in the process. Stephen Colbert distracts as Poppy’s father, and despite lending his voice to be a stereotypical rich guy, has no affect on the plot whatsoever. John DiMaggio voices what could have been a hilarious new bus driver with the charisma to control our little yellow dudes. Instead, he falls away in a glorified cameo. A plotline around Edith and Agnes attending karate classes disappears after one scene, despite being one of the genuine high points of the movie.
Perhaps nothing feels more disappointing than announcing Ferrell’s involvement. The iconic actor and comedian has contributed in small roles to many movies and shows in the past. He usually brings incredible energy into these bit parts, and helps create memorable moments as a result. President Business remains one of the best-animated antagonists in recent memory.
His role in Despicable Me 4 should channel that energy, but instead feels shockingly low-energy. The accent feels like he dusted off the Mogatu performance and turned up the “French” on the voice modulator. It’s a huge miss, and outside of his cockroach physicality, would easily rank at the bottom of the Despicable Me villain tree.
That might not matter in a vacuum, but don’t worry, Despicable Me 4 finds a convoluted way to ensure that all of the villains of both the Minions and Despicable Me films make their way into a single scene. That sequence feels like what one might have expected from a final Despicable Me movie, but given Despicable Me 4‘s box office projections, we’ll be right back here in the next two to four years.
If you like the Despicable Me franchise, then Despicable Me 4 will work for you. However, it’s tough to recommend to anyone else. There’s not much going on in this movie beyond random action sequences with no real ties to keep the story together. Things kind of just happen because we need them to. However, Despicable Me 4 will scratch the Minion itch for its core audience and ensure future installments are underway.
Alan’s Rating: 4/10Watch Despicable Me 4 in theaters today. Universal Studios distributes.Please check out other Sunshine State Cineplex reviews here!The post Review: DESPICABLE ME 4 – A Surprising Letdown Despite Looney Tunes Action appeared first on Sunshine State Cineplex.