Despicable Me 4 Movie Review

“Despicable Me 4” is a further adventure into the world of Gru and his family and his Minions. In case you have been hiding under a rock for the past 14 years, the ‘Despicable’ empire has continued to grow and get more fans over the years. The quality of animated movie making may not have increased much with the release of these films. But the results at the Box Office show these will be a hit.

Felonious Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) is a reformed Super-Villain now. He has three adopted kids, and now a wife – Lucy Wilde (voiced by Kristen Wiig). They have recently had a new baby boy – Gru Jr. – and things are looking good. Gru is working for a group called the ‘Anti-Villain League’. This agency is led by Silas Ramsbottom (voiced by Steve Coogan), who is an old-school British spy master. Gru has an assignment to get a Baddie.

Gru travels to his old high school in France, a place called Lycée Pas Bon. He is there to catch his former classmate. Undercover at a high school reunion, Gru is out to get a guy named Maxime Le Mal (voiced by Will Ferrell). Maxime and his girlfriend Valentina (voiced by Sofía Vergara) are up to serious no good. Maxime has been working on a device to turn people into — yuchh! — cockroaches.

Maxime Le Mal is caught, and in prison he vows to escape. And then he is out of there just like that. He gave himself super-strong ‘roach’ powers, like a hard shell and strong pincers. Maxime is out on the loose, and he next vows to go after Gru and his family. Silas Ramsbottom tells the family that they must go into hiding under different identities. It is like Witness Protection for the Super-Hero bunch…

Gru sends most of Minions off with Silas to the AVL main office. Silas says he can find some use for these little fellows. The family packs up and moves to ‘Mayflower’, a quaint little town that has the AVL ‘safe house’. The family is upset at having to move away, especially daughter Margo (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove). But Gru says — you might find new friends, right next door.

Under the ‘assumed names’, the family gets settled in. The ‘Cunningham’ family is hitting it off with the neighbors. Next door there lives the guy who owns the car dealership, Perry Prescott (voiced by Stephen Colbert). He is not as friendly as his wife, Patsy Prescott (voiced by Chloe Fineman). She invites the new neighbors to the ‘exclusive’ country club. But the real pistol is their daughter.

Poppy Prescott (voiced by Joey King) is a spoiled teenager with braces. But that does not mean that she cannot see through the fake name to know that she lives next to a former Super-Villain – Gru. It has been Poppy’s dream to become an evil Villain, just like Gru and Maxime Le Mal. She blackmails Gru in going with her to steal the mascot of the Lycée Pas Bon high school. The mascot is a mean Honey Badger named Lenny.

So, many stories continue on. Gru and Poppy break into the Lycée Pas Bon, as they take a few Minions and Gru Jr. — by mistake. Lucy is working at her new job at the beauty salon setup by Silas Ramsbottom. Silas is trying out a new ‘Super-Hero’ formula on a few of Minions. It could make them Super-Heroes with Super-Powers. Or it could make them explode. Margo is coping with high school in Mayflower. Maxime Le Mal is hiding out with Valentina, and bringing along a few thousand of their ‘little friends’ — La Cucaracha…

Poppy and Gru steal the Honey Badge, but they do not know the tracker in his collar will lead Maxime Le Mal right to Gru’s door step. Yikes! Gru and the whole family — the ‘Cunningham’ family — is in deep stuff.

There will be a major face off between Gru and his enemy, Maxime — because Maxime Le Mal has kidnapped Gru Jr.  What type of help can Gru get, when Maxime flies off in his cockroach-shaped jet? Poppy has a way to get Gru back in action. And the enhanced ‘Mega-Minions’ might come in handy, too…

“Despicable Me 4” is a zany and madcap piece of animation with the ‘Despicable’ group on full display. There is no new ground broken here, just the typical slap-dash antics that are sure to enthrall the kids. This is not Pixar-level artistry, or Studio Ghibli styling of sound and motion through animation.

But it is the same old basic Goofy and Goony – turned up to 11. It will give you exactly what the prior three movies gave you, plus the two ‘side add-on’ “Minion” movies. It will give you about an hour and a half of pleasant silliness and some crude humor. That’s enough to keep the kids out of your hair for a while.

The characters are all nuts, and the setup is good enough. The voice acting is pretty good, if not over-the-top. But then again – I guess that is the point, right? Plus, with the loony characters like the Minions, it is tough to keep a straight face.

“Despicable Me 4” does the same type of thing that the previous ‘Despicable’ movies have done – it delivers an amusing bit of zany humor and some fun. There is nothing despicable in that.