Movies with Matteo – Despicable Me 4
By Matteo Dabramo
It’s no secret that the Despicable Me Franchise is a shell of what it once was. What was once a fun franchise that boasted memorable villains, great family moments, and of course, the Minions, has lost course of what made it great in the first place. I think Despicable Me 4, which is definitely the lowest point the franchise has ever been in, is a perfect example of this.
The film follows Gru’s family, consisting of Gru, Lucy, Margo, Agnes, Edith, and newcomer Gru Junior as they are put into witness protection. Why are they put in witness protection, you may ask? Well, there’s an old arch-nemesis of Gru’s, named Maxime le Mal, who is out of jail and is after Gru and his family. Surely this Maxime le Mal is a major threat with a reasonable grudge held against Gru, right? No. Not at all.
Maxime le Mal, who is supposed to be a menacing big bad, has the power of being able to turn himself (and others) into cockroaches. Yes, you heard that right. The man who Gru and his family are so paranoid of is a cockroach man. Oh, and that grudge he has against Gru? Yeah, that’s even dumber. He hates Gru with a passion because Gru stole his Karma Chameleon routine in a grade school talent show. Yes, you heard that right. Maxime hates Gru with a passion over a talent show that happened over 30 years ago. If you think that’s stupid, just wait until the rest of the movie kicks in.
The film has practically no plot at all. A lot of scenes have no effect on the narrative and are there for cheap comedic moments that will–at best–make anyone over the age of 8 chuckle. For example, there is a scene where Gru plays his neighbor, voiced by Stephen Colbert, in tennis. Gru knows he will lose, as he has never played tennis, so the minions interfere with the game of tennis by moving the net, distracting Gru’s opponents with whistles, etc. That’s the scene. It is pointless and not funny at all, which may be the biggest sin of this movie. It is just not that funny.
Gru’s children, who were previously hilarious in the first few films, are barely present in the film at all, and when they are in the film, they have nothing to do. The film also tries to add new comedic characters, but they are just as painfully unfunny as the rest of the movie. The major new character added is Gru’s neighbor’s daughter, Poppy Prescott. She is a poor, painfully stereotypical attempt to make fun of Gen-Z. Not only is her character stereotypical and unoriginal, Joey King, who voice acts her, makes her as annoying as humanly possible. Every time Poppy talked, I wished that I had brought ear plugs. The only funny characters are the Minions. The story line that the minions go on is actually pretty fun, but they should have had more screen time.
Despicable Me 4 is a creatively bankrupt, unfunny, and forgettable piece of garbage that is a very obvious cash grab. The villain is goofy and unthreatening, the previous fundamental characters have almost no effect on the story, and the new characters are painfully annoying and one-dimensional. Let’s hope that this film marks the end of this franchise, which has clearly lost its way.
