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Movie Review: Despicable Me 4

Mike Tyrkus
A scene from "Despicable Me 4."

A scene from "Despicable Me 4." © Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

It has been seven years since the last “Despicable Me” movie was in theaters, and fourteen years since the first film was released. Now, Gru and his minions return in Despicable Me 4 to further the adventures of the bad guy turned good guy through the influence of his makeshift family.

Gru’s latest adventure picks up with Gru still working alongside the Anti-Villain League when an old nemesis – Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) – escapes from prison in order to take revenge on Gru for repeatedly thwarting his nefarious plans. The focal point of Maxime’s newest scheme is to kidnap Gru’s son – Gru Jr. – and turning the boy’s allegiance away from Gru. The threat that Maxime presents force Gru and his family into the equivalent of the “villain” witness protection program where his daughters are subject to navigating a new school and all of those particular pratfalls. But the main focus here is the relationship between Gru and his son and how Maxime exploits that. From there the film becomes a surprisingly effective exercise in male-bonding as well as a refreshing look at how much a dad can love his son.

Working from a script penned by Mike White and Ken Daurio, directors Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage deliver an economic and well-paced film that never feels like it drags or hits a narrative speed bump causing the focus on the film’s kinetic energy to disparate. This is, of course, aided by the crisp editing work courtesy of Tiffany Hillkurtz.

As has always been the case in this series, the voice work by all involved is well executed and everyone plays their parts to the fullest. Every actor seems to be all in and having a pretty good time with the film and that spills over to the audience.

While some aspects of Despicable Me 4 may feel as though they were handled more effectively in previous installments, the overall tone and spirit of this film makes it a worthwhile endeavor and a worthy addition to the series.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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