Despicable Me 4 is back with what we have missed in this franchise; Gru! The run of minion films and origin stories were fun, but what made this franchise fantastic from day one was Mr. Despicable himself.
Synopsis: Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and Agnes welcome a new member to the family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad. Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal and his girlfriend Valentina, and the family is forced to go on the run.
Most will have high hopes for this film. It has been fourteen years since the first DM film, and seven since DM3. That is plenty of time to get it right. Or, too much time has past to recapture the magic. Either way, this film is not what we hoped for or expected.
The character foundation is there so it all came down to writing and story. Both are subpar as we get scene after scene of random, humorless, plot. Minor characters that add nothing and bring nothing to the story. None of it flows into anything engaging.
Audiences expect some minion humor but even that was repetitive and regurgitated. It is possible that the creative team assumes after 7 years a new crop of youngsters have emerged that will think this all new and exciting.
Little time has past since the last film as Margot, Agnes, and Edith are the exact same age. The baby must have popped out fast since no one else has aged. That is forgivable and had the story been solid no one would care.
The trailer speaks of new enemies, fatherhood, undercover Gru… yet all of that never develops. Poor Lucy has nothing to do in this one so they toss in an embarrasing story line for her that means nothing. In fact, everything feels like a slew of mini movies strung end to end with the hopes of reaching 90-minutes. It is that bad.
Basically, Gru finds himself a target of another villain so the Anti Villain League put Gru and his family into protective custody. That in itself could have been funny as Gru and family try and blend in to a country club suburb. Alas, no. The new neighbors have a daughter named Poppy who adds a little something but even her character morphs so quickly from one thing to another that it becomes hard to follow.
Fourteen years is a long time. Fans of Gru were ready and excited for a summer blockbuster of despicable proportions. Something we could laugh at with the whole family. None of that panned out here. If there is a DM5 it needs to focus more on story and less on just showing us familiar characters.
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