Despicable Me 4

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.

For what it's made for, it's a pretty good film. It's designed to provide entertainment, laughter, and a mental escape, and it definitely succeeds at that. The story is of course a bit lacking and the sequence of events are pretty predictable yet still filled with humour and action. When you watch a Minions movie or 'Despicable Me,' you look for the comedy, and although this one is filled with joke, unfortunately not all of them were good ones. Another observation: as we progressed from the first installment to this one, the minions' role has become less significant, which disappoints me since they were the reason I initially enjoyed these films. The voice cast remains incredibly strong, with accents and tones perfectly enhancing the movie's comedic aspect.

Score:6.5/10.

As I said above Despicable Me 4 will no doubt be a hit worldwide hands down but it didn't strike a chord in my books.

Pros Our lovable Minions doing what they do best which is wacky fun crazy stupid things which induces some laughs. I think the best cute thing was the baby Gru after the Minions. It was nice to see Gru for once a bit afraid and on the backfoot to protect his family.

Was lovely to see all the ex antagonists in the end from the series.

Cons I would say the plot is simple and predictable but the villain, although not a bad one was not as menacing and interesting.

Would have loved more of Dr Nefario.

Minion Superheroes were a treat to watch!

This fourth film in the series crashes and burns on multiple levels. The story is a tedious slog, failing to capture the spark of the previous entries. The villain, unworthy of the franchise's legacy, is a bumbling disappointment easily defeated by a puppy. This lackluster antagonist makes the film an unenjoyable chore, especially for fans who invested time in the previous installments.

But the problems go deeper than a weak villain. The plot itself feels uninspired, and the film fails to recapture the magic that made the earlier movies so entertaining. It's a forgettable entry in a series that deserved better.

Verdict: SKIP IT!

Rating: 6.5/10

I really wanted to like this movie but it was pretty disappointing. The movie didn't have much of a story and the scenes felt like they were all over the place. The laugh out loud moments were too far and few between. I feel like they relied too much on the minions slapstick comedy as opposed to focusing on character development and creating funny scenarios in the storyline.

The villain was forgettable and not too impressive. The entire time it felt like there was nothing at stake. The only motivation for the villain was petty revenge. The thing that put me off the most in this movie was Gru's switch from a heel to a babyface. It just doesn't suit him or create funny moments. Gru is much funnier being the sarcastic wisecracking villain you love, not this tame neutered family man. He's much funnier popping kid's balloons and melting their ice cream then running around trying to please everyone.

I do admit though that him now being a family man makes sense in the continuity of the story, however it does nothing to improve the comedic scenes of the storyline which is why we all watch these movies in the first place.

I gave this movie a 6.5/10. It's not a good movie, but not a terrible one either. I feel that this movie was the weakest of the four and that this series has ran its course with nothing else left to offer. In my opinion, save your money and wait for this to come out on streaming.

If it's not sacrilegious to say, I think this franchise is starting to run out of steam - the plot here isn't very original. The family "Gru" have a new child who doesn't much take to his father which only makes matters worse when arch-nemesis "Maxime Le Mal" - who is intent on turning everyone into cockroaches - escapes from custody bent on revenge on the man who put him in jail in the first place. Better safe than sorry, "Silas" relocates the family to a safe house where they have to pretend to fit in with the vacuous tennis club set, but one of that number - the feisty "Poppy" knows the secret and blackmails "Gru" into helping her pinch "Lenny" the badger from under the eyes of the diminutive "Principal Übelschlecht" at his alma mater. This adventure narks the headmistress and when she sees some video of the perpetrators, she's straight on to the phone with "Maxime" who hatches a plan to steal the baby and give him wings! The minions - and the newly formed and enhanced "Super Minions" - still manage to have some fun here as they discover their new home has a vending machine and an endless supply of popcorn, and there is some wit in the dialogue but the story itself is all pretty derivative and the animation looks a little too tired now. What was ground-breaking looks so much less now and the writing and characterisations are nothing special anymore. It does liven up for the last ten minutes, but the previously innovative and enjoyable mix of menace and mayhem has largely gone.