disclosure: I was invited to a special screening of Despicable Me 4 in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own. No other compensation was received. This post may contain affiliate links.
In the first Despicable Me movie in seven years, Gru, the world’s favorite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain League-agent, returns for an exciting, bold new era of Minions mayhem in Illumination’s Despicable Me 4.
7 years? That seems like forever ago when we saw Despicable Me 3(Gru learns he has a twin brother and they team up to stop Balthazar). How does Illumination keep the Despicable Me franchise going, movie after movie? Is it time for Gru and the Minions to retire? Since I’m not one to leave you hanging, I’ll tell you now – Despicable Me 4 IS a movie your kids are going to want to see this summer. I sat in a PACKED movie theater for this showing with families of ALL ages – grandparents, seniors, children, teenagers, teenagers dressed like minions – and the laughter was insurmountable.
Let’s talk about all of that, spoiler-free of course.
About Despicable Me 4
The biggest global animated franchise in history now begins a new chapter as Gru (Oscar®nominee Steve Carrell) and Lucy (Oscar® nominee Kristen Wiig) and their girls —Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Madison Polan)—welcome a new member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad.
Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal (Emmy winner Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run.
The film features fresh new characters voiced by Joey King (Bullet Train), Emmy winner Stephen Colbert (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live). Pierre Coffin returns as the iconic voice of the Minions and Oscar® nominee Steve Coogan returns as Silas Ramsbottom.
My Thoughts
Sitting in a packed theater to see an animated movie on a Monday night says something about the film, especially when the franchise has been around for 14 years (Despicable Me in 2010, Despicable Me 2 in 2013, Minions in 2015, Despicable Me 3 in 2017, Minions: The Rise of Gru in 2022). Despicable Me 4 marks the 6th movie in the franchise. My teenager said it best when we saw Minions: The Rise of Gru – the Minions are just a franchise that will never get old.
I don’t know how they come up with these storylines that keep entertaining everyone. Seriously – even with subplots and predictability. I feel like if I go into too much detail, it will ruin it for you. It is bizarre, for sure, but ridiculous enough that everyone will just laugh. And isn’t that point of an animated summer movie? Bringing the family together, in air-conditioning, to make some memories.
Sometimes, a movie is just entertainment. Not every movie has to have a take-away or be a therapy session. Movies do not have to make you cry. Movies do not have to make you cry to be considered a good movie. There are no life lessons, take-aways or messages to be learned from Despicable Me 4. But there are plenty of memories to be made seeing this movie. In the parking lot after the screening, a group of young girls, dressed as Minions(yellow shirts and overalls) jumped around yelling “banana banana banana.” They were having fun, making core memories, and isn’t that what is important?
Safe for the Whole Family?
Everyone knows Minion humor – typical slapstick littered with plenty of butt/fart jokes. This movie is no different. Despicable Me 4 is rated PG for some action and rude humor. The action/rude humor is in line with other cartoon style action, similar to Looney Tunes behavior. If you are familiar with the Minions, it’s very typical behavior, not awful or shocking. There were no surprises in this movie in that sense.
As for violence, there is a villain in this movie. But, the level of violence is on par with other movies in the franchise. I would go as far to say that anything that happens in this movie, has happened previously somewhere along the line in the franchise(ie – car chase, catch a villain, fight scene, kidnapping, crazy weaponry).
As I said earlier, there was a wide generational presence for my showing. The laughter was abundant. Despicable Me 4 has a 1 hour and 35 minute runtime, which is perfect for all ages. Smaller children seemed enthralled with the movie, sitting on the edge of their seats at times. I feel that if your child is not too afraid of noises, chasing, etc, and can sit for about 90 minutes, this movie is perfect for everyone to see.
Overall
Gru and the Minions are far from done. I am quite sure there will be more from this franchise, especially with the latest expansion at Universal Orlando. And I am all for it.
Despicable Me 4 is in theaters July 3rd. Get your tickets and go see this movie. Wear the yellow shirt. Jump around and laugh while you talk about what you just witnessed afterwards. Sing the great songs in the movie – because this 80s kid was loving the music choices. These are the moments you want to hold on to.
Just a few tips for watching the movie – keep your eagle eyes open towards the end of the movie for some stellar cameos, but there is, unfortunately, no end credit scene. There are Minion antics while the initial credits roll, but once that black screen with credits starts, it is over. Get a jump on chatting with with your kids and making those core memories.
Despicable Me 4 – In Theaters July 3
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A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin’ wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life – A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects – create~inspire~share.
