HOLLYWOOD—The fourth flick, it is hard to believe that we are now being blessed with our fourth entry in the “Despicable Me” franchise. That’s right “Despicable Me 4” has arrived at the multiplex. The minions have always been the most entertaining element of the movies in my opinion because their antics are just all over the place and give plenty of hilarity. They appear in this one, but take a backstory to our focus on Gru (voice of Steve Carell), as he attempts to protect his family from a threat from his high school days.
That enemy is Maxime Le Mal (voice of Will Ferrell) and he is an eccentric one who has an infinity for cockroaches. Don’t ask because I cannot explain it, but let’s just say there is bad blood between Maxime and Gru, so much to the point that Gru moves the family to a new city to hide out from the looming threat of Maxime Le Mal.
A lot of the antics in this movie unfolds between Gru, Lucy (voice of Kristen Wiig) and their kids, including the newest bundle to the bunch, Gru Jr. who doesn’t take a great liking to his father. There are indeed some scenes that will have adults laughing just as hard as kids. It has nothing to do with what Gru Jr. says, it’s the facial expressions he gives on the screen.
Other laughs for the movie involve Gru and his family interacting with their neighbors, The Prescott family which includes Perry (voice of Stephen Colbert), Patsy (Chloe Fineman) and Poppy (voice of Joey King). Poppy has to be the interesting one of the bunch because she is a villain in the making. She knows about Gru’s past and threatens to expose him if he doesn’t participate in her goal to commit a heist.
The fourth entry is proof that the franchise is losing some of the steam it initially had when the first movie was released back in 2010. We have the ‘Megaminions’ created, but there is not much explored with the characters beyond a few hijinks that are not as expressive as it could have been if the characters were used more to create some laughs.
With the movie clocking in just under 90 minutes it is the perfect flick for the children. It is not too long and not too short and does a great job with a pace that moves steady. As an adult I didn’t get bored watching an animated flick, which tends to happen for most adults. I laughed and I was entertained, but I did want a bit more from the franchise after four movies.
Considering its box-office performance, I am sure a fifth entry is likely to happen, however, I wonder where the writers will take the iconic villain who has turned into a good guy. Perhaps have him resort to his evil ways? That would be an interesting twist to say the least.
