While it may not have reached the dizzying heights of success of Pixar, Disney or Studio Ghibli, animation studio Illumination has been on a roll. Its video game adaptation, The Super Mario Bros Movie, raked in over $1bn in the global box office and its animal-friendly franchises, namely The Secret Life of Pets and Sing, ensure family audiences sit down for the fun. However, these pale compared to its biggest franchise, Despicable Me, which is still going strong since Chris Renaud and Pierre Colfin’s directorial debut in 2010 – with its latest instalment about to hit the big screen.
Despicable Me 4 sees Gru (Steve Carell), wife Lucy (Kirsten Wiig), their adopted daughters Margot (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith and Agnes, and their latest addition, baby Gru Jr, forced to go into hiding and relocate to the leafy suburban town of Mayflower after Gru’s former classmate Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) swears revenge.
After three films and two Minions spin-offs, the Despicable Me series has defied critics to become a commercially successful animated franchise at the box office. But while the films have always painted Gru as a villainous mastermind, the truth is that he is a bad guy with a good heart. Over the franchise, his soft side has been the root of each instalment despite continual attempts by others to embrace or even celebrate his dark side. This trend continues in the fourth film, which sees Chris Renaud return to the director’s chair after stepping away from Despicable Me 3.
With three daughters and now a new baby, Gru and Lucy’s relationship shows a natural progression in the franchise, even though they now have to again adapt to another new role around their duties to the Anti-Villain League. From awkward dates to marriage, audiences have seen them as secret agents, parents, and now, thanks to an awkward school reunion, a family in hiding. Despite their best efforts, the family’s inability to adapt to their new personas and make friends with the neighbours, the snooty Prescotts, brings a melee of entertaining chaos that results in some amusing and vibrantly animated sequences. Although there are several promising family-driven scenes in the film, Gru retains the narrative’s spotlight with his amusing antics involving a honey badger and a vindictive wannabe villainess. This singular focus leaves his family with little things to do and prevents Mike White and Ken Daurio’s screenplay from keeping the franchise feeling fresh.
Meanwhile, the franchise’s longstanding cast keeps audiences entertained with a variety of vocal performances. Carell continues to bring smiles amid Gru’s struggles with gusto and occasional hesitation while Colfin delivers an eclectic range of vocal performances among the numerous Minions, including a super-powered group named the Mega-Minions. Supporting cast members, ranging from Wiig and newcomer Joey King, offer frenetic bouts of comedy to add extra hilarity to the action but, Will Ferrell’s Maxime, complete with an exaggerated French accent, comes across as a bog-standard bad guy but his personal vendetta against Gru paints him as a petty and mostly ineffectual enemy, as his grudge pales in comparison to typical villainous aspirations of global domination.
Overall, Despicable Me 4 is starting to feel its age but still offers bursts of fun that will keep kids and long-time franchise fans tickled. With Minions 3 on the way, it looks like Gru and the gang will not be retiring soon.
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Despicable Me 4 is out in cinemas now.
Director: Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage; Mike White, Ken Daurio (screenwriters)
Stars: Steve Carell, Kirsten Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Pierre Coffin, Steve Coogan, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofia Vergara
Runtime: 95 minutes
Country: USA
