Review: Mega Minions Assemble! Despicable Me 4
Plot Overview: 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.
Age Rating: PG: Very mild comic violence, threat, language, rude humour.
UK Release date: 12th July 2024
Our Review:
By James, Katrina and Bethany Freed
The film is fun, if a little too brief to fully explore the relationships between Gru and his new baby boy or with the family next door or the difficulties caused by trying to fit in to the entitled community of Mayflower in which Gru and his family now find themselves. However, whilst there is plenty for kids to enjoy – my daughter laughed out loud several times - and the exploits of the minions never fail, there are also a fair few tidbits for the adults. The consistently good 80’s/90’s soundtrack and nods to recent superhero films as well as a surprisingly energetic supermarket chase scene that culminates in a subtle Terminator 2 reference are worth keeping your eyes and ears (banana) peeled for.
There are a few moments of peril (e.g. kidnapping of the baby) but the kids in the audience were as young as 4 and I heard no worries or cries, so I would say that it is suitable from 4/5+ years.
Plot Synopsis
In this, the fourth in the Despicable Me series (not including two prequels and a number of shorts) we see Gru return as part of the Anti-Villain League (AVL) bringing a rogue from his past to justice. It transpires that this bad guy, Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) and Gru (Steve Carell) have history, tracing its roots back to their time at the Lycee Pas Bon, the school you need to attend to be a future evil genius.
After a bit of scene-setting trash talk, Gru triggers the trap and Maxime is caught, giving us the opportunity to see him at his super-powered, indestructible best as his revealed alter-ego ‘Cockroach Man’. Maxime is caught and subsequently escapes, making the chilling threat that Gru will be exterminated. This forces the AVL boss-man Silas Ramsbottom (played by Steve Coogan) to put Gru and his entire family into protection with a new life and new identities whilst he experiments on five of the minions back at AVL HQ. Thus Mega Minions are born whilst Maxime plans his revenge, Gru is blackmailed into dipping his toe back into criminal activities and Lucy (Kirstin Wiig) and the girls try their hardest to fit into their new lives.
Brief Review:
Overall, the fourth in the series doesn’t disappoint, even if it doesn’t scintillate either. Our family scored it a solid 4/5.