Despicable Me 4: A Fun but Unfocused Animated Comedy
The latest installment in the Despicable Me franchise, Despicable Me 4, is an agreeable piece of fun that retains much of the charm that has characterized the series. While it may come across as somewhat unfocused, the animated comedy is suitable for all but the very youngest.
Gru and his family in hiding
Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), the would-be supervillain turned loving dad and crimefighter, finds himself assisting in the arrest and imprisonment of French criminal Maxime Le Mal (voiced by Will Ferrell). However, Le Mal vows vengeance on Gru’s family and manages to escape in short order.
Gru and his wife Lucy in action
With Le Mal on the loose, Gru and his family, including his sensible wife Lucy (voiced by Kristen Wiig), have to go into hiding and assume false identities. But things take a turn when Poppy (voiced by Joey King), the daughter of their preppy, country club patronizing new neighbors, the Prescotts (voices of Stephen Colbert and Chloe Fineman), discovers their secret and uses it to blackmail Gru.
The Minions causing chaos
While the comic chaos wrought by Gru’s trademark Twinkie-shaped minions continues to evoke laughs, director Chris Renaud’s addition to the franchise goes down too many plot paths at once. Some of the details of the story, such as Le Mal’s goal to kidnap infant Gru Jr., may also be challenging for kids.
“The film contains characters in peril, a touch of potty humor, and a minion mooning, which may give the parents of the littlest moviegoers pause.”
Despite some genuinely objectionable ingredients being kept out of the mix, there’s a morally interesting, though underdeveloped, subplot about the refusal of one of Gru’s adopted daughters to use the pseudonym she’s been given on the grounds that it would constitute lying.
Gru’s family in a precarious situation
Overall, Despicable Me 4 is a fun but unfocused animated comedy that, despite its flaws, is suitable for all but the very youngest.
