“Let’s get this party started, people!”
So, I somewhat missed the boat on the Despicable Me franchise but let me see if I got the gist. So Gru, played by Steve Carrell, is a reformed clumsy master villain, (though from what I can see he maintains the clumsy part) who now works for the Anti-Villian League; essentially now helping catch villains instead of being one. Interesting premises and after watching Despicable Me 4, I can see why the studios have deemed to keep the series going. Returning to the franchise with Carrell is Kristen Wiig as Lucy, another member of the Anti-Villian League that originally hunted captured Gru before falling in love and becoming his wife and mother to his son, as well as Miranda Cosgrove, who voices Margo, Gru and Lucy’s oldest adopted daughter, and Dana Gaier as Edith, Gru and Lucy’s middle adopted daughter. New additions to the cast include Will Ferrell as the film’s primary antagonist and old nemesis of Gru’s, Sofia Vergara as a femme fatale and secondary antagonist, and most notably and possible my favorite character of the film, Joey King as Poppy Prescott, an aspiring super villainess who has admired Gru for a long time.
In this installment, Gru and family are hunted, when an old rival of Gru’s, Maxime Le Mal (Ferrell), who harbors a grudge towards Gru for stealing his talent show act, as well as Gru capturing and imprisoning him for the Anti-Villain League, escapes custody and vows revenge on Gru and his family. For their safety, Gru and the family are put into witness protection and given new identities in a new town until the threat can be neutralized. Struggling to assimilate into their new lives, the family finds themselves facing personal and professional issues further complicating their safety. Meanwhile, La Mal in addition to hunting the family, hatches a devious plan for world domination involving human-creature hybrids.
Accepting the idea that I am not the core audience for this film, I still found enjoyment in the film to keep me entertained, particularly the Poppy Prescott character, who is a bit of a force to be reckoning with in her own right. Even Gru said, “She’s terrifying.” I’m sure this was a fun character for King to play, as she appeared to be the one that could see the whole board, given that she managed to force Gru to go along with her nefarious plans despite him being in hiding. Gru was enjoyable too, as I suspect he is in every film, but as a novice to the franchise, what I enjoyed about him was his wit. Despite being somewhat reformed, he somewhat clings to the virtues of his past as a villain. Such as when Agnes finds it difficult to lie and he extolls another one of the girls that is able to lie with ease and without remorse. Interestingly, much like in Despicable Me 3, the role of Agnes had to be recast due to age requirements. Making Steve Carell (Gru), Miranda Cosgrove (Margo), Dana Gaier (Edith) and Pierre Coffin (The Minions) as the only cast members to voice their respective characters in all four main movies. Even though Kristen Wiig (Lucy) was also in the first movie, she voiced a different character, Miss Hattie.
Given that I am not the target audience, the question becomes will the latest film be a hit with its intended demographic? I think it will be, at least it was with my kids. My daughter, who I believe has seen the other installments, gave it her stamp of approval, and it seemed to have my son’s undivided attention for a bit, which is quick the feat let me tell you. Though it was the Mega Minions storyline that seemed to capture his focus, particularly Mel (laser eye), and Jerry (rock stone body with ability to eat everything).
Video
Despicable Me 4 is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an impressive average bitrate of 55-60 mbps. While this is pretty much an upconvert from a 2K digital intermediate you don’t really lose anything because it’s a totally digital product from the ground up. These kinds of computer animated features are great places to see what the HDR element can bring. You get the most vivid and vibrant colors. Yellows pop along with reds and greens. Texture keep getting better in these features with Gru’s scarf being a wonderful example. Elements like fur, water and clouds are getting almost better than real. It doesn’t hurt the contrast either. You get solid black inky black levels with wonderful contrast in the bright daylight scenery.
Audio
The Dolby Atmos audio presentation defaults to 7.1. The surrounds are actually quite aggressive at times and the film is almost manic with the degree of ear candy you’ll find here. For an animated feature there’s a good deal of sub going on here which actually helps sell the image. The subs allow large things to truly feel large. There’s the expected whimsical score and dialog has no trouble punching through it all.
Special Features
The extras are found one on each disc.
Game Over And Over: (4:17) This is a minions short where a game controller gives the holder the ability to control another minion in awkward situations. You know the kind. The kind you’d find in a video game. Just remember that payback is a …
Benny Birthday: (4:06) It’s Groundhog Day meets a birthday celebration in another Minions short.
Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes: (14:25) There are 9 scenes with a play all option. Understand that they are in various stages of completion. Once a decision is made to cut a scene no more work is done on it.
Despicable Dialog: (3:37) Take a look at the cast doing some candid takes in the recording studio.
Meet The Cast: (22:16) There are 7 features on 7 cast members. You get a play all option and go inside with each character/voice actor.
Making Of… (10:57) This features gives you a look at many departments on the movie. It’s a nice journey through the animation process brought to you by the people who performed each stage. It’s quite educational.
MegaMinions Mayhem: (4:26) This feature looks at the mutated “superhero” Minions.
Rogues Gallery: (3:38) A look at the franchise villains as seen through the AVL facial recognition computers.
How To Draw: (12:11) Learn how to draw the MegaMinions. There are 5 features with a handy play all option.
Final Thoughts:
This film marks the longest gap between “Despicable Me” films. The gap between Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013) was 3 years, the gap between Despicable Me 2 (2013) and Despicable Me 3 (2017) was 4 years, and the gap between Despicable Me 3 (2017) and this movie is 7 years. As the gaps are getting longer, the question is whether this will be the last in the franchise? If it was the last, but if it is, I’d be satisfied. I think the film ended on a good enough note to serve as a proper conclusion. However, my research suggests that another sequel is already planned but likely contingent on the success of 4 with initial theories suggesting that the daughters could take on a more prominent role in the next one. That might be interesting to see.
Parts of this review were written by Gino Sassani
