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. (from IMDB)

The Despicable Me franchise has kind of had a rough ride. After the success of a pair of movies, Illumination decided to spin-off the series with a movie centered entirely around those lovable, mischievous yellow, blue-coveralled minions. While the movie performed well at the box office, it wasn't received quite as well, and ended up being kind of a mixed bag in the end. A third Despicable Me followed, which ended up being pretty fun (although unnecessary), and then 2022 saw the return of the minions in the COVID-delayed sequel, Minions: The Rise of Gru -- which actually ended up being pretty good. This takes us to 2024 where we have Despicable Me 4... and while I love these characters, I'm starting to get that Shrek Forever After vibe that the franchise may be running out of steam.

I can't even quite put my finger on what it is about Despicable Me 4 that lacks so much. Is it just more of the same? Too different? All the best parts shown in the trailer? Maybe it's a little of all the above. In the previous movies, it was largely Gru's show, and maybe part of the problem is there are so many characters to follow now, the focus is divided too much. Probably the best sequence of the movie is when Gru is part of a heist, and he ends up having to use the contents of a diaperbag in a clever way to get the job done. The minions are still funny, fun and lovable, but so much of their hijinks were spoiled in the trailers, that it often feels like "This? We saw this already, give us something new!" I didn't revisit the previous movies before watching this one, so doing that may have given me more insight, but with Gru having a family now - and one that is growing, it's starting to feel a lot like The Incredibles, and you can definitely sit down and draw more than a couple comparisons between the two movies.

This time around, we have another villain who wants revenge on Gru, and this one is voiced by comedy legend Will Ferrell. However, it really could have been anyone providing the voice of Maxime, because it sounds absolutely nothing like Ferrell. Clearly, he had fun with the character, but it was so hard to recognize it was him that after seeing his name in the opening credits, I was never able to pick out which character he was playing. (For example, picking out Stephen Colbert and Sofia Vergara was pretty easy to do.) For a kids movie, too, Maxime is a pretty intense villain. For one, it's kind of silly to have a French villain who wants to turn people into cockroaches - including himself - and when he reveals his own physique has been mutated into a cockroach form, it's kind of intense (and maybe a little disturbing for kids?). Another scene shows him turning a gas station attendant into a cockroach-human mutant, and we see his face twisted and twitching. Later, another character is transformed and threatens to kill a main character, and it's also pretty intense for young viewers (then again, I suppose a lot of The Incredibles was too?). Not too much of the content is crude necessarily, but there's a gag where Agnes commands her pet baby goat to sit. It then expels little poops, to which Agnes says, "No, I said sit!" Ha, I was a little surprised they went there.

Also, can we address the elephant in the room here? While it's commonplace for shows like The Simpsons to never let the children characters age, it's especially weird to see Gru's adopted children not age when clearly he and Lucy have a baby now which would mean at least 2 or so years have gone by. Little Agnes should be considerably older - especially after the other movies are also taken into consideration in the timeline. Sure, it might be tough to see these cute characters grow, but it worked for How to Train Your Dragon, and it could possibly work here. I guess it wouldn't be such an obvious issue if the family hadn't added a baby to the mix, which clearly shows time has passed and their newborn is aging.

I suppose if you're a diehard fan of the franchise thus far, Despicable Me 4 should scratch the itch for a new story (and a return of lovable characters), however, it just feels like its lost its spark. Steve Carell's performance as Gru is on-point, and everyone else seems to be all-in here, but there wasn't much to really draw the viewer in. Around the climax of the movie, it begins to show some heart, but it just might be too little too late, as it just isn't enough to elevate everything that came before it.

I suppose, when all is said and done, Despicable Me 4 is a fairly forgettable sequel that isn't nearly as fun as the previous films, and lacks enough heart to make up for it. If you're a fan who's a bit easier to please with these movies, by all means, don't miss this one. But if you're a bit pickier, and was maybe a little on the fence about the other Despicable movies, you should probably just pass it by.

The fourth installment of the Despicable Me franchise (not counting the 2 Minions spin-offs) is now available on disc to own, as well as through the usual digital providers. The 4K disc is packaged with a Blu-Ray disc, as well as a MoviesAnywhere a digital copy. Here's a look at the 4K UHD disc transfer and the bonus features that come with it...

Despicable Me 4 in 4K UHD - Despicable Me 4 is a gorgeous looking animated film. When they show clips from the previous three (especially the first one) during the featurettes, it's amazing to see just how far the quality of animation has evolved. With that said, the color really pops with this movie in 4K, so it's pretty much a no-brainer when deciding whether or not to spring for the 4K release or not.

Revisiting the movie, however, is a different story. I admit, I did like my second viewing just a little bit more than the first time I saw it in the theater, but I still think it lacks overall. Maybe some time with it will help me look upon it more fondly, but my gut tells me it's the weakest of the bunch (but better than the first Minions movie). Diehard fans of the franchise will probably still really enjoy it; it's always nice to get some more screentime with some of our favorite characters.

Special Features

(New) Mini-Movie: Game Over and Over (4:18) - The first of the two new "mini movies," featuring the minions, is a gamer's delight. In it, we find Stuart and Kevin sitting on the couch, playing a video game. Stuart accidentally breaks his controller and ends up finding a fancy looking new one in Gru's lab. But it's not an ordinary controller, of course. It ends up controlling Kevin, so Stuart has Kevin run through the city just like he's playing a video game! At one point, we even get a first-person-shooter view with a paintball gun. It's just a really fun four minutes.

(New) Mini-Movie: Benny's Birthday (3:59) is basically a take on the movie Groundhog Day. Here, Benny wakes up to find it's his birthday, with the other minions pulling him out of bed and throwing him a celebration, but he gets injured and finds himself waking up again at the start of his birthday. This happens many more times - each time ending poorly for little Benny - until Benny has mastered how to survive the party and the loop stops. It's a pretty cute story.

Deleted / Extended / Alternate Scenes (14:59) - There are 9 deleted or extended or alternate scenes with a Play All option. They're also all presented in either unfinished animation or near-finished animation (and not just really rough storyboard sketches).

1. Class of ‘85 (2:16) - This is finished animation of Gru arriving at the villain reunion and trying to get his name tag at the door. We then see some unfinished snippets of moments around the party, including Maxime's arrival (which is not in the finished movie).
2. Minions at the Reunion (1:45) - This is unfinished animation of random bits of the minions goofing around at the reunion.
3. Minions at Home (1:05) is finished animation of a minion shaving his head. We then see unfinished animation of the minion stuck in the vending machine, and then minions in the bathroom.
4. Big Day Out (2:34) - This is a deleted scene of two minions with Junior in the park, and we see him steal some cotton candy. Then we see Gru on a park bench with Junior (and the minions) as he tries to win his son over with a balloon animal. Junior pops the balloon that another kid is holding (like Gru did in the first movie). There's then another scene showing Gru trying to get groceries inside his house while carrying the baby, and then struggling to cook while holding him.
5. Karate Round 2: (0:20) - This is finished animation where Lucy and the kids accidentally run over the karate instructor with a shopping cart at the grocery store.
6. Gru vs. Treehouse (0:55) - This is unfinished animation of Gru trying to get in Poppy's treehouse while holding Junior and struggling through it.
7. Defibrillator (0:32) is unfinished animation of a minion accidentally sticking himself with a tranquilizer dart. One of the other minions grabs a defribillator to try to revive him.
8. Mega Minion Mega Mix (3:19) is unfinished bits of the Mega Minions doing super stuff... unsuccessfully.
9. Mega Minions in Lockdown (2:12) is a deleted sequence that takes place right after Silas hears Gru is compromised and drops his sandwich on his desk. The scene continues as he picks his sandwich back up and runs through a very intense series of traps and security measures guarding where the Mega Minions are. (It's a mix of finished and unfinished animation.)

Despicable Dialogue (3:38) is a great featurette that shows the voice actors recording in the studio, having fun, and goofing around. It's great to see the cast had fun while making this movie.

Meet the Cast (22:41) - The cast and crew talk about the actors and the characters they voice, including some in-studio footage of them recording, too. It's presented with a Play All option or broken up into sections by cast member and their character.

1. Steve Carell: Gru (3:33)
2. Kristen Wiig: Lucy (3:09)
3. Joey King: Poppy Prescott (3:51)
4. Gru's Girls: Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Madison Polan (3:09)
5. Stephen Colbert & Chloe Fineman: The Prescotts (2:23)
6. Sofia Vergara: Valentina (2:44)
7. Will Ferrell: Maxime (3:53)

Making Of (10:57) - Here, the directors and crew talk about doing a fourth film and aiming to check off all the boxes of what makes a Despicable Me movie. The crew and cast talk about their experience making the film, and the animators address pushing the detail to look more photorealistic this time around.

Mega Minion Mayhem (4:22) - Apparently, the crew had the idea for "Mega Minions" since Despicable Me 2, but didn't decide to use them until now. They talk about how they chose pretty simple powers for each one so it didn't have to be explained in the film.

Rogues Gallery (3:38) is about the Anti-Villian League (AVL), and it goes over the cameos of the villains seen in prison at the end, highlighting each one that appeared in ALL of the other franchise films.

How to Draw (12:28) - Head of Story Habib Louati shows us how to draw the Mega Minions while he draws on a digital screen. (He apparently does not speak English, so there is an English voiceover for when he talks.)

1. Mega Dave (2:34)
2. Mega Mel (2:18)
3. Mega Jerry (2:42)
4. Mega Gus (2:10)
5. Mega Tim (2:44)