Welcome back stinkers! I have recently watched Despicable Me 4, and it is today I give you my review of the film. I actually had more fun than I thought I would with this, and I can’t wait to tell you about it. If you’re new to the blog, I start my review off with a non-spoiler review for those who haven’t seen the film, and then I’ll go more in depth, talking about spoilers.
Despicable Me 4: Non-Spoiler Review
Like I mentioned, I had more fun than I thought I would have with this movie. The Despicable Me franchise has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Despicable Me 4 might just be my guiltiest of pleasures. The thing is that I don’t like the term guilty pleasure. You shouldn’t have to feel guilty about liking something. Anyways, I still had fun with this movie. It’s the classic Minion style humor, the jokes land, and I found it to be very entertaining. Yes, this is on the weaker side of the franchise. The story is very loosely tied together. In fact, you can argue that there really isn’t a story. Gru’s character arc was basically completed in the first movie, with the second one being more of an epilogue.
Going back to the loose story, I didn’t think it was terrible. There was just never a clear story. On top of that, it starts to get a bit convoluted with different sub plots. I mean Gru literally has three different sub-plots. So, if you’re going to add these different sub-plots, you’re going to need a clear story. That then just gives a barrier that stops me from getting invested in the story. Now I wasn’t invested in the story, but I am still interested in these characters. I’m curious where they’re going to end up, but if they keep telling stories that don’t need to be told, I am eventually going to lose interest.
That being said, I was still charmed by the characters. The stuff with the Mega Minions was fun, as well as the different sub plots Gru goes through. I didn’t exactly think they needed to include them, but it was still fun to have.
Despicable Me 4: Spoiler Review
Now that my non-spoiler review is out of the way, this is where I like to talk more in depth about the movie, further elaborate on some of my previous thoughts, and even walk into spoiler territory for the rest of the review. You have been warned.
The Mega Minions
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The Mega-Verse has officially debuted! Now, I had some fun whenever these guys were on screen. I’m actually surprised that superhero Minions weren’t introduced any sooner. Yes, I thought these guys were fun, but it doesn’t serve anything to the story. Again, I’m actually starting to love these guys. I even got the popcorn bucket of Mega Minion Jerry. Now just because I had fun, that doesn’t mean I can’t ignore the issues. Like I said, they don’t serve to the story. They were just there. There was barely a story to begin with, and when you bring in sub plots like this, it doesn’t deliver anything to the movie. The only thing it does is that it makes the movie more convoluted. The Mega Minions was just a representation of a bunch of gags that were stuffed into the movie.
Now there’s no doubt that this movie is doing great for its own. In seven days, Despicable Me 4 was able to make 255+ million dollars. If they were to go do another Minions movie before Despicable Me 5, I think the next step would be a Mega Minions movie. Now that I think about it, it almost feels like they were in here to tie into their own movie. In fact, as of me writing this, it has been announced that Minions 3 is set for a summer 2027 release! That being said, I don’t think it’s going to turn into the Mega-Verse that Steve Carrel showed off. That was clearly a gag. I just think the Mega Minions would be a good fit for a movie, and I hope to see them in the future.
Gru’s Sub Plots
Now the next thing that I wanted to bring up is Gru’s different sub-plots that’s going on. Gru is trying to bond with his son, he’s also under black mail, and he’s hiding from Maxime. Yes, I know the Gru and Maxime Le Mal part is really the main plot, but at this point you can say they’re all sub-plots. No, there isn’t even a real plot. The story only book ends the film. So, that leads into the biggest issue of the film. The basic writing structure of the film was done poorly, no doubt about it.
That being said, I think that this movie still has the charm from all the other films. I can see that the franchise is starting to be played out, but I still don’t want it to end. The franchise still has me in a place to where I still care about the characters.
Now as of the sub plots themselves. Since I still care about the characters, I’m still hoping for the best for Gru and his son. Now for Gru being blackmailed by Poppy, I still had fun with it, but I didn’t work all that well for me. In Despicable Me 3, they used Dru to try to rekindle the villainy side of Gru. It felt like they were trying to do that again, but it didn’t work. However, it could’ve been really nice for Gru to sort of let go of that side of villainy as he almost passes the torch onto Poppy.
I do however think they did this to late. So, that didn’t really work out too well, but if they continue laying out the groundwork for someone like Poppy. Then I think that could be how you move on from Gru. I don’t want to move on from Gru, but eventually they’re going to run out of things to do with Gru.
Maxime Le Mal
Ah Maxime Le Mal! Don’t get me wrong I thought this character was fun, but he might just be the worst villain of the franchise. Of course, you have to give credit where credit is due, and I thought that the high school rivalry between Le Mal and Gru was interesting. I think that was an interesting direction to go in, at least for Gru. Other than that, I just found the character to be uninteresting. Turning him into a roach? That’s not threatening, it just came off as goofy. I know the Minions is a goofy franchise, but the roach was a different level. I would also say that they did a good job at making you dislike the character. Whenever he stole Gru’s baby, I was really hating him. That is what the movie was trying to do. They wanted to try to get you to hate him.
I think the biggest problem was that they didn’t do a good enough job at establishing the sort of relationship these two have. Again, they went somewhere interesting with that high school rivalry. So, they were heading in the right direction, I just think the main problem between the two just wasn’t doing it. Just because Gru stole Maxime’s song at a talent show, they’re rivals for multiple years. I think if they maybe went with a more serious direction, it could’ve worked better. Not too serious of course, because this is still the Minions. Of course, it’s a franchise for little kids, but if they went into more of a serious direction, they could’ve moved up to kid friendly. That’s basically what Pixar does.
Surprise Appearances
Now the last thing I wanted to touch upon was some surprise appearances we got at the end. I couldn’t help it, but I had a smile on my face for the whole ending. When the family returns at the house, Dr. Nefario makes a nice cameo. Then at the very end when they’re all in the backyard, you can see Dru and Gru’s mom in the backyard. I kind of wish we got more with Dru, but again, seeing these guys put a smile on my face. Then even more of a surprise came when Gru paid a visit to the AVL prison, where we see all of Gru’s past villains jamming along with Gru and Maxime. Once again, I couldn’t help, but have a smile on my face.
The only weird one is Vector. Where we left off with him was that he was on the moon. So, I really wonder how he got back. Then we see people like El Macho, Balthazar Bratt, Scarlett Overkill, and Belle Bottom and the Vicious 6. Safe to say that I had Everybody Wants to Rule the World stuck in my head a little bit after.
Despicable Me 4: Review Recap
That is going to do it for my review of Despicable Me 4! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read another one of my movie reviews. Despicable Me 4 has to be one of my biggest guilty pleasures of the year so far. Yes, I know there isn’t really any story, but I still had a lot of fun with this. I’m still at the point to where I’m interested in the characters and that I am excited for the future.
As you might know, I’m currently trying to take The Big Stinker Blog up a notch behind the scenes. I’ve started to format the home page a little bit differently, and you can expect a different format for reviews, posts, and different pages in the near future. Make sure you check out The Big Stinker Blog for more reviews and breakdowns, and coverage on movies, TV, gaming, and more. If you are looking for more to read than I would check out my Agatha All Along Teaser Breakdown. Or if you’re wanting more animation, my Inside Out 2 Review. Stay tuned for my Captain America: Brave New World Teaser breakdown! So, until next time stinkers! Bye bye.