Equally ridiculous and revolting, Despicable Me 4 brings the popular minions (and less popular humans) back to the big screen in their blandest movie yet.
This is actually the sixth film in the now 15-year-old franchise, which is older than most of the film’s target audience. It’s the next episode in the saga of former supervillain Gru (Steve Carrell), his family, and army of cute, yellow annoyances.
For this fourth movie, the family is in witness protection from Maxime le Mal (Will Ferrell), a French baddie that’s half man and half cockroach who’s got a grudge against Gru from their middle school days.
Unfortunately, the direction of Chris Renaud and jokes from writers Mike White and Ken Daurio altogether make the film mean-spirited and grossly unfunny. It’s more cohesive than the Minions spinoff movies, but it’s also less fun and certainly less appropriate for young audiences.
Its thin story line and structure of short, mostly unimportant vignettes make the movie feel cheap. That means it’s slightly entertaining, but it’s also instantly gratifying and instantly forgettable.
The characters designs continue to get more garish, unattractive and overly exaggerated with each movie. Short-lived parts this time include insulting caricatures of a vain neighbour and country club star, bullies at a high school reunion, unhelpful store clerks, and the demands of an overly demanding woman at a hair salon.
Tell me honestly: does anyone expect kids to find any of those characters funny? All of the jokes are childish in delivery but meant to poke fun at adults who are too bored and disengaged to care.
But worst of all is Joey King as teenage aspiring villain Poppy, perhaps the rudest, unfunniest, most pandering abomination I’ve ever seen in a family movie. In her first scene, she dares to spit at Gru: “I don’t respect boomers. I just mock them.”
I’ll admit while most of the film was a bust, there were two short scenes that did make me smile: a short gag at a tennis match, and the bright, catchy final song featuring cameos from many of the past Despicable Me films.
At the end of the day, anyone whose young children are entertained by the minions gang will likely be helplessly dragged to the theatre to see this. If you like minions, it’s a passable sugar rush, like candy. If you can’t stand the minions, it’s like watching a tater tot infested nightmare.
Illumination can make funny, appealing movies: just last year they made two with The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Migration. But this film is a far cry from the heartwarming, clever first Despicable Me back in 2010.
I’m not even saying this is bad simply because it’s in a long-running franchise. Just a few months ago, Kung Fu Panda 4 (an even older series) proved fourth animated movies can be worth making.
Despicable Me 4, however, is nearly devoid of all joy and empty of anything entertaining. And it’s not just my opinion: I saw the film in a sold-out theatre of families on opening day, and regardless of age, most of the kids didn’t even laugh once. One family even left early.
There are great family movies still playing. Go see the far superior Inside Out 2 or IF (ironically, also starring Steve Carell!). But Universal’s hopes that families waste their time on the shallow, mean-spirited Despicable Me 4 is nothing sort of villainous.
Despicable Me 4
4 out of 10
Rated PG, 1hr 34mins. Animated Family Spy Comedy.
Directed by Chris Renaud.
Starring Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Sofia Vergara, Steve Coogan and Tara Strong.
