Cartoon review «Despicable Me 4»

Starting July 3, Ukrainian cinemas will be able to watch the animated adventure comedy «Despicable Me 4». It is the fourth installment of the main series of films about the now former supervillain Felonius Grue, and, along with two spinoffs about his henchmen, the sixth in the «Despicable Me» franchise. In the review below, we’ll tell you what the henchmen will do this time around and whether the cartoon is worth a family trip to the movies.

Pluses:

Minions — the real stars of this show, who delight the audience; references to superhero (and other) movies; high-quality animation; the presence of fun and dynamic scenes;

Minuses:

a weak script that lacks complexity; lack of interesting characters; the cartoon lacks ingenuity and humor outside of the «context» henchmen;

6/10

Rating
ITC.ua

«Despicable Me 4»

Genre animated adventure comedy
Directors Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage
The roles were voiced by Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofia Vergara, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan
Premiere movie theaters
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb

Gru has long since given up his supervillain activities and traded his ambitions to take over the world for taking care of his daughter’s and newborn son, and all sorts of infernal devices — for a pacifier and diapers for the baby. And everything would be fine if Gru and his family weren’t threatened by an old enemy, Maxime Le Mal, who, starting with himself, was inspired to turn everyone he met into a cockroach.

Since Le Mal has managed to escape from prison, the director of the Anti-Thieves League suggests that Gru and his family move to a secret hideout and go into hiding, taking on new identities. However, the heroes cannot hope for peace in the new place either. The «Despicable Me» animation franchise started back in 2010 and has since gone on to have three sequels, two spinoffs, short films, video games, and even a theme park attraction. The series also gave the world its iconic minions, and the world has generously returned the favor, making «Despicable Me» the highest-grossing animated franchise in history (currently worth $4.7 billion, followed by «Shrek» with a much more modest $4 billion).

Actually, in the fourth installment, the henchmen are traditionally responsible for the humor in the series, and therefore are of the greatest interest, unlike the main characters, about whom there is nothing to say. In short, everything rests on these yellow brawlers, while the script is frankly disappointing.

But there are some local curiosities. Again, they are mostly centered around the henchmen. Thanks to them, we got witty references to superhero movies, in particular, «Captain America: The First Avenger», «Fantastic Four» and «Spider-Man 2» Sam Raimi. Of course, these references are intended more for adults because the second «Spider-Man» was released 20 years ago when very young viewers did not exist. An attentive and experienced movie fan will surely notice obvious winks to even older and more iconic films, such as «Terminator 2» and «The Mask» with Jim Carrey. When the modified henchmen enter the arena, the film wittily conveys a message about the public’s fatigue with superheroes, which has resulted from the overwhelming number of superhero blockbusters in recent years. These eye-catching moments are supported by the branded, colorful animation and a rather dynamic development of events that will surely captivate the youngest viewers.

Unfortunately, apart from the henchmen, there are no interesting characters in the cartoon.

Gru has already gotten his character evolution in the previous installments, so there’s really nowhere to go. The protagonist resembles Jimmy «The Tulip», played by Bruce Willis in a «The Whole Nine Yards» comedy. He was a ruthless-hired killer, and in the sequel he threw his silenced pistols into a closet, started raising chickens, and turned into a housewife in an apron. So Gru has long since forgotten about villainy and has become an exemplary family man. At the same time, the local antagonist Maxime Le Mal, with his obsession with cockroaches (he would have been better suited to the nickname Papa Roach) looks a bit crunchy.

The story lacks really bright dynamic scenes, like the one where the robbery of the Villains Academy takes place. Here, the creators offer drive, wit, and good humor, which is finally not focused on the henchmen. It’s a pity that the plot as a whole can’t boast of such ingenuity.

In form, «Despicable Me 4» — is still a pleasant cartoon with colorful animation and some great jokes, but in content, — is a completely unnecessary sequel, devoid of memorable characters and bringing absolutely nothing new to the franchise. This is probably not a big deal for those who have recently stopped using diapers themselves. But for those who can see the reference to a 20-year-old movie, it’s not so obvious.

Conclusion:

«Despicable Me 4» — is not the shiniest coin in the box, but the excitement here may be enough for the little ones. But in every sense, adults will have to pay for their pleasure.