*THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Who will Gru be tonight? That is the question that has been swarming TikTok and influencing box office sales. Despicable Me 4 is one of the highest-grossing movies of 2024, standing at $853,100,000 after its release on July 3rd, 2024. Despicable Me 4 is seemingly (and hopefully) the last movie in the overly extensive movie series. While most viewers have complained about the poor storyline, calling it a corporate money grab, here is my take on the poorly reviewed summer flick.
First off, introductions heavily impact the mood in a movie, and I loved how Illumination introduced this particular film. It showed Gru speeding and swerving through roads on a mountain, while the internet-famous song “Double Life” by Pharell Willaims blasted in the background. The song, which serves as the movie’s theme, essentially explained the plot of the whole movie in its lyrics. For example, in the song, Williams repeats the lyric, “Who will Gru be tonight? That’s the question,” which foreshadows Gru’s double life in the movie. The intro was quite different from the other Despicable Me movies, and I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh start. Another thing I appreciated about the movie was the voice acting. While the main characters did sound a little off to me –possibly because I haven’t heard their voices since I was 7– I did like the voice acting for the new character, Maxime Le Mal. He was voice acted by Will Ferell, a voice that neither me nor my father could recognize, unlike Sofia Vergara’s which we instantly picked up on.
Secondly, the thing that can make or break a movie: the plot. I tried to scavenge my brain for any positives about the terribly rushed plot, but honestly, I came up blank. The best way I can explain how they treated this movie is this: The writers looked at their schedule, realized the script was due in 2 weeks, threw together everything they had in a 1hr and 35 minute script, and sent it off as fast as they could. Though the introduction was good, it was slightly spoiled when they threw us into a random class reunion with Gru at his Alma Mater,, Lycee Pas Bon, which is a university that specializes in villainy. The scene went by so fast I barely got time to grasp anything that was happening. The only information I could collect from the scene was the ongoing feud between Maxime Le Mal and Gru. The scene also unfolded Maxime Le Mal’s secret underground “Cockroach Takeover” after he won Villain of the Year. Again, I sadly missed half of the rushed scene just by making a five second side comment to my Dad, which is another example of how fast this movie went.
Another thing I disliked about the plot were the multiple storylines. On one end, the Minions were becoming this Fantastic Four-esque super squad, which obviously borrowed themes from Marvel with the use of the super serum. On another end, Gru’s family was getting used to living a secret life, in a neighborhood in hiding from Maxime Le Mal. On yet another end, Gru was practically becoming a heist servant for his neighbor’s teenage daughter, Poppy, who dreams of becoming a supervillain. She wants to steal the School of Villainy’s mascot, the Honey Badger, and threatens Gru to help her or his true identity will be exposed. It would not surprise me if an additional movie about her was in the works. It would’ve been better if they had some plots in the background, instead they seem to hone in on each storyline to a fault. They would stay on one for so long, to the point where I forgot Gru existed. I honestly would’ve rather watched a movie on the minion storyline and the minions become a secret squad for Gru, instead of learning about his double life for an hour and a half.
The only positive I could find about this film is the way all of the storylines tied together. The Fantastic Four Minions, and Gru’s heist practice with Poppy, ended up helping him get his baby back from Maxime Le Mal at the end. I do wish the character development was better and that I could’ve learned more about Maxime Le Mal. All I really knew about him was the cockroach army and the fact that he hated Gru, over a talent show which leads into the savior of an ending.
The ending was honestly my favorite aspect of the film, partly because it gave me nostalgia, and partly because I was glad it was finally over. Maxime Le Mal and Gru’s feud was all over a talent show where Maxime Le Mal prepared a routine where he was going to sing Karma Chameleon by Boy George. The bad part was that Gru performed before him. Gru visited Maxime Le Mal in jail, at the end of the film, Gru admitted he did steal it from him, and that he could sing better. This then led them to perform Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears (get it because they’re supervillains?) The scene also featured all the villains previously present in the older movies, from Scarlet Overkill to Balthazar Bratt. I genuinely believe that they added the song at the end of the movie to cover up most of the movie’s faults. As if including a catchy, little song would make it any better.
Overall, I give the movie a solid 4.5/10. It lacked creativity, a good plot, plus it was hard to believe it had been in the works for over three years. It was the fourth installation to the saga, so I guess there was not much to milk out of a storyline after five previous movies (including Minions and The Rise Of Gru). With that being said, I would have preferred if Illumination had stopped at Despicable Me 3.
