Before I begin, I must make a confession: I have not, up to this point, seen a single “Despicable Me.” film. I have a vague recollection of dipping in and out of the very first one but, other than that, the franchise has completely passed me by. I had a quick Google so I could catch up before throwing myself in the deep end with “Despicable Me 4,” and was shocked to discover that there are at least five films in the “Despicable Me” universe. How on Earth, I thought to myself, could there possibly be enough content for another film in the series?
Yet, still, I found myself waiting in line at the movies on an overcast Saturday morning, along with several sleepy looking parents and far too loud children, coffee in hand, wondering how exactly I ended up here but, all the same, ready to go. And viewers, let me tell you, I had an absolute whale of a time. Granted, it wasn’t the film of the year, and I won’t be rushing to rewatch it any time soon. But “Despicable Me 4” offered a light sense of relief that was surprisingly welcome after a busy and stressful working week.
Plunged Into the Action
If you’re like me and you haven’t seen the entire franchise, don’t panic. It does not matter in the least bit, and I’d still encourage anyone to give it a watch. In fact, I enjoyed it even more this way and will—after this—most definitely be watching the series from the beginning. And whilst some critics have claimed it’s essentially a remake of the previous three films, for me this was not an issue in the slightest; it made it feel all the more fresh and fun.
There’s no hanging about with this film. From the get-go, viewers are immediately plunged into the action, meeting ex super villain Gru (Steve Carell) who attends a reunion at his old school, Lycée Pas Bon, which immediately gives off creepy haunted house/Hogwarts style vibes. The scenes that feature Gru’ s old stomping ground are probably some of my favourites visually. In fact, one of the things I love most about the film is the variety of exciting different settings—”Despicable Me 4″ certainly packs an impressive amount in in its short run-time of 1 hour 32 minutes.
At Lycée Pas Bon, Gru, accompanied by his trio of minions (I’ll come back to them, don’t worry), encounters an old classmate from his school days, Maxine Le Mal (big up to Will Ferrell), who bears a grudge against Gru due to a humiliation at an old school talent show (we’ve all been there). In what some might consider a rather over the top reaction (*spoiler*) Maxine decides to transform himself into a big old cockroach (as you do) and vows to wreak revenge on Gru. This results in Gru having to relocate and create a whole new identity for himself and his family and as you can imagine, all does not go to plan.
A Fun, Family Film
The ‘Minions’ in a scene from “Despicable Me 4.” (Photo: Illumination | Universal Pictures, 2024).
In my opinion, “Despicable Me 4” ticks a lot of boxes for a wholesome, light-hearted and laugh out loud family fun. Plenty of adult themed jokes, dazzlingly bright and colourful settings, some gold old fashioned villain/superhero vibes and just good, clean fun. Granted, I can’t compare this to the other films in the series, but as a standalone film it works and still managed to surprise me here and there.
And if I’m totally honest, I can’t believe that my life up until this point has been completely devoid of such hilarious and adorable little minions. I loved that they got to play the part of superheroes (albeit terribly), with a hilarious spoof of some of the Marvel films, and for me they completely make and carry the film.
Put it this way: “Despicable Me 4” won’t be the film of the year. But, if you want to feel like a child for an hour and a half and have a good old giggle, I strongly advise you to go and see it.
“Despicable Me 4” is currently only available to watch in theaters.
