Despicable Me 4 (2024)

Despicable Me 4 (2024)

5/10

 

Starring the voices of

Steve Carell

Kristen Wiig

Pierre Coffin

Joey King

Miranda Cosgrove

Sofía Vergara

Steve Coogan

 

Directed by Chris Renaud

 

It felt so much like I was watching a rip-off of Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles (2004). The story was not as good as the first two Despicable Me animations from 2010 and 2013. It felt a lot like the third—a movie that didn’t need to be made but was done anyway.

This is the fourth animated movie in the Despicable Me series following Gru, and it serves as a sequel to Despicable Me 3 (2017). However, it is the sixth movie in the Despicable Me franchise, following the prequel Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022).

The problem with this animation was how much time was wasted in the second act—when Gru needed to be taken into protective custody and his new hiding place was discovered. The first act was also underdeveloped, leaving the antagonist Maxime without enough time to evolve. In fact, none of the new characters introduced received any meaningful development. With good writing, one hour and thirty minutes can be used effectively, but this movie felt rushed and overcrowded with characters, focusing too heavily on the second act.

The plot is as follows: Gru, working undercover with the AVL (Anti-Villain League), attends his high school reunion to capture a villain named Maxime. Maxime has a personal feud with Gru, which you’ll need to watch the movie to understand. Maxime developed a syndrome that enhanced his strength, allowing him to pursue world domination. Gru, with the help of AVL agents, manages to capture Maxime.

Maxime later escapes from prison and vows revenge on Gru. To protect Gru and his family, the AVL places them in protective custody, relocating them to a safe house with new names and jobs.

Meanwhile, Maxime schemes to find Gru and kidnap his baby, intending to raise the child as his own to exact revenge. Gru and his family struggle to adapt to their new life and roles. To make matters worse, someone in their new town discovers Gru’s true identity and blackmails him into helping with a heist.

Everything this movie could have learned from Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles (2004) which it was obviously copying, it did not. It copied the whole idea and failed in the execution or didn’t even care. It seemed more like, they wanted to milk the IP than they wanted to entertain the viewer.

If you’re looking to entertain children with an animated movie, this one might suffice. However, as an adult and a fan of the franchise, I felt this installment wasn’t well thought through.