Despicable Me 4 Parent Guide

Gru (Steve Carell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) are enjoying their lives as parents to their three girls and a new baby boy. But that idyllic world is disrupted when one of Gru’s archenemies, Maxime (Will Ferrell), escapes from prison and publicly vows revenge. The family is moved to a safe house in a new town and must assume new identities until Maxime is captured. While adjusting to their new life, Gru meets their neighbor’s daughter, Poppy (Joey King), an aspiring villainess wanting to learn from an old pro.

If you have seen any entry in the Despicable Me franchise (excluding the original, which is fantastic), you already know exactly what you’re getting into with this installment. I’d rate all three sequels at around the same level of quality, which isn’t high, but I do praise the franchise for being consistent. The minions are annoying, Gru gets up to antics, Lucy is a flat character, and the girls are adorable but have nothing to do in the plot. It’s a formula at this point.

I think the biggest miss with this production is that there are approximately five subplots taking up time and space, and most of them never amount to anything. The girls seemed to have their own plotlines at the beginning, which I was excited for since they tend to be on-screen ciphers, but then those stories fade awat. There’s just far too much going on, which makes it hard for any character development to fit in edgewise. Aside from the many subplots, the film is teeming with gags, antics, and hijinks, plus the expected high amounts of potty humor. It’s fast paced and overstuffed, which I suppose isn’t the worst thing a children’s movie can be. At least it’s not boring.

That said, I laughed a few times, and the children in the theatre with me seemed to be having a great time. There are far worse options out there, and the low amounts of negative content make it suitable for most audiences. The level of slapstick violence is on par with the rest of the franchise, so parents will know what to expect. A huge high point of this film is Stephen Colbert playing Gru’s snooty rich neighbor: he steals every scene he’s in and more than makes up for the price of admission. I’m sure Despicable Me 4 will be a hit with young audiences, and parents could do a lot worse.