’Despicable Me 4’ Review: New Entry is Heavy on Fun, Light on Everything Else

Somehow, Illumination managed to restrain themselves and hold off a whole seven years since the last Despicable Me movie, the third entry, in 2017.

We’ve seen another (quite fun, I might add) minions spinoff since then with The Rise of Gru in 2022, but the main entry drought has left the production company grabbing elsewhere for revenue and coverage elsewhere. With Despicable Me 4, they’ve clearly begun to take a different approach with the franchise; one where it feels more like spinoff material, though surprisingly, sort of solid spinoff material.

There is a clear downturn here in regards to character development. This fourth installment is concerned very little with the stories and arcs that the previous three entries have worked to build. Again, there are far more examples of slapstick gags and juvenile gibberish jokes than there are slowed down, character-concerned moments.

That sounds bad but, in this case… it works, in a way. Sure, but the attention to the main characters in a detailed, emotional sense is missed, but how much further could they really have gone? We’ve already got Gru’s movie with the kids, the movie where he meets his wife, and the movie where they mesh as a family against another new conflict. It seems more fitting that the fourth entry would take what it has and run with it, rather than try and force another mushy storyline that doesn’t need to exist. DM4 does exactly that.

There are still the bones of character arcs here, but if you’re headed to the movies to see this one, don’t go in expecting to be moved. What Illumination does most, and occasionally best, is entertain, and thankfully, that’s done quite well here.

The pace drags in increments, though between long stretches of consistently clever bits and bobs of comedy writing and scenario-building. We traverse between scenes of Gru and the crew trying to adjust to a large life change, whilst the minions become superheroes and demolish the city in vain efforts to save it. Really, we’re off the rails here. 

But doesn’t that sound wildly fun? That’s because it is. Not to mention the fact that Illumination still maintains the standard for modern animation as far as aesthetically pleasing, stringently detailed visuals go. This movie looks absurdly good. 

It’s hard to believe that animation has come this far, and it’s even harder to believe that the newest Despicable Me entry is a hallmark of that achievement, yet here we are. The world looks, and thus feels, lived in; strands of hair move with one another in the wind, colors tell natural stories of their own, and action sequences come to a whole new kind of life. It sounds crazy, but legitimately, it’s a gorgeous palette.

As exciting and entertaining as this film can be, it isn’t doing anything you haven’t seen before.

But films like these have a ceiling, one imposed by the same aforementioned positives that make it worth a watch. As exciting and entertaining as this film can be, it isn’t doing anything you haven’t seen before, and going forward, it’ll probably be a hard one to necessitate coming back to.

This whole thing works, especially in theaters on a first watch, but once you’ve taken it all in, it won’t be hard to devise where most of it came from. Then, you’d sooner be inclined to go to the source next time you’re itching for the tropes used here, rather than what is essentially a redo, albeit a joyous one.

In the end, if you like the previous films in this franchise, you’ll find something to like in this one. It’s the easiest date night/kids night out movie in town right now too, so there really isn’t a reason not to at least give this one a shot, one time. After that, it’s up to you how many fart jokes and incoherent babble you can chuckle at before you start to see the light.

Despicable Me 4 is now playing in cinemas worldwide.

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