TL;DR – Look, the kids started laughing with the title card and stopped with the end credits, and I am not sure that truly does matter in the scheme of things.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid credit sequences but you don’t need to stay for them.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Despicable Me 4 Review –

Well, it is time to get the banana papayas out because it is Minions time. Look, I have generally liked these films because there is an almost charm to the slapstick comedy that permeates every frame. Also, while my mother is not a fan of this, I don’t have any kids, so I only have to watch this film once—my deepest sympathies to those well into the double-digit viewings. But now we are six films deep into this world, can there be any more fun to be found? Well, that is what we will find out today.   

So to set the scene, Gru (Steve Carell) is still working for the Anti-Villain League, and this time, his mark is Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell), a heavily ‘French’ accented villain and former classmate of Gru. Indeed, Gru takes him down in the middle of their class reunion. Things are also looking up at home, where he and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) have welcomed a new child into the family, Gru Jr. But when Maxime escapes and threatens to ‘cockroach-ize’ the baby, well, the whole family has to go undercover to keep safe. You better hope your new neighbours are not secret supervillain fans.

Now the question is: is this still fun? And well, I don’t know who they do it six films in, but there is still fun to be mined with the Minions (Pierre Coffin). Part of it is because they just commit full force to the bit, which you need to door; otherwise, there is nothing to save you. I thought it was fun that Gru was better at undercover than Lucy. Also, I have never seen a yassified cockroach before, and now I have. Shout out to Will Ferrell and his intentionally atrocious French accent. It is terrible in a way that could only have come from a film made in France. The highlight for me was a whole heist sequence with Gru and Poppy Prescott (Joey King), which was both silly and wonderful in equal measure.  

However, much like Despicable Me 3, it did feel like some of the charm has worn off, and some of the cracks are starting to show. One of the strengths of the previous films is that they were built off three supporting narrative anchors: Gru, the Minions, and the Girls. Unfortunately, the girls get completely sidelined in this outing, and while Poppy is a fun addition that fills some of that space, it now lacks the grounding that it needs. I do kind of wish that Kristen Wiig and Sofía Vergara had more to do other than just existing. There were also a lot of plot points that felt forced, even for a film like this. For example, the wink, wink, nudge, nudge, link to the MCU or DCEU just never came together.          

In the end, do we recommend Despicable Me 4? Well, look, while I had some issues with the film. The fact is that all the kids that were watching it had a ball, and I am not sure if I could give a better endorsement than that. If you liked Despicable Me 4, we would recommend to you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Despicable Me 4
Directed by – Chris Renaud
Screenplay by – Mike White & Ken Daurio
Based on – characters created by Sergio Pablos
Music by – Heitor Pereira & Pharrell Williams
Edited by –Tiffany Hillkurtz
Production/Distribution Companies – Illumination & Universal Pictures
Starring – Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofía Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Chloe Fineman, Steve Coogan, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Madison Polan & Pierre Coffin
Rating – Australia: PG; Canada: na; Germany: na; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: U; United States: PG