Movie Review: Despicable Me 4

Despicable Me 4 (2024)

Box office numbers in the 2020s have been wildly inconsistent, but one genre that still reliably packs seats is the family/kids' movie. So it's no surprise Hollywood brought back reformed supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) in Despicable Me 4.

Gru, his wife (voiced by Kristen Wiig), and kids must move to a new town after Maxime, a half-man/half-cockroach supervillain with a grudge (voiced by Will Ferrell), escapes from prison and vows revenge on Gru's family. A neighbor tween (voiced by Joey King) with villainous aspirations of her own recognizes Gru and blackmails him into helping her with a heist. And yes, the minions are involved, too.

That's about it for the plot, which exists mainly as a loosely connected series of events to provide opportunities for the slapstick silliness the franchise is known for. Some of that silliness is funny, including a bit with a minion refereeing a tennis game. But while something like Inside Out 2 has enough emotional heft to have cross-generational appeal, the Despicable Me franchise is clearly tailored to children around 10 and under. And there's nothing with wrong with that.

Moviegoers with young children can take them to see Despicable Me 4 and feel confident the kids will leave the theater happy. It won't be painful for the adults, but it's not something to see if you don't have small kids (unless you are a movie critic).