Cattivissimo me 4

Now, I've been a fan of these Despicable Me Movies since 2010 and I've loved all of the movie in a variety of different qualities. However, there was a part of me that wasn't necessarily excited for this movie and that's a big surprise for me. Now that I've watched the movie and I can honestly say that while I did like this movie, we've officially come to the point where the Despicable Me Franchise is starting to feel played out.

Positives for Despicable Me 4 (2024): There is still a lot of fun that can be had with this set of characters and honestly these movies won't survive without them. I enjoyed that this movie has a wide variety of different characters with their own distinct personalities and charisma. I really enjoyed the addition of Joey King as Poppy Prescott as one of the the neighbor characters to the Gru Family. I liked the fact that the Gru Family has to figure out how they need to adapt to a new neighborhood. I really enjoyed the journey that Gru goes on with his infant son Gru Jr. Where at the beginning of the movie, Gru Jr. Hates his father and then eventually starts to like his father at he end of the movie. And finally, the minions are still a lot of fun with their insane antics.

Mixed for Despicable Me 4 (2024): The main issue that I have with this movie is the screenplay and that's primarily because the two screenwriters of this movie are Mike White, the creator of The White Lotus (2021-) and Ken Daurio, the screenwriter of multiple Illumination Animated Movies. And while I do enjoy what both of these guys bring to the table with their writing, their styles of writing do not feel compatible with each other in term of how they write their characters, construct their stories, the tone that they're going for and the themes that they want to explore. It literally feels the movie is trying to figure out what it wants to be throughout the runtime.

Negatives for Despicable Me 4 (2024): Similar to Despicable Me 3 (2017), Dr. Nefario is not in this movie, with the exception of a small cameo. And finally, the villains of both Maxime Le Mal and Valentina are by far the weakest in the franchise which is bizarre because they are voiced by Will Ferrell and Sofia Vergara respectively.

Overall, Despicable Me 4 (2024) is still a fun movie within this franchise but we've reached the point where this franchise is starting to feel played out and that's not a good thing.

I think this falls into the same mistakes that the third one did. It was still classic Minion fun, but it didn't have a story to tell. In fact, in this one there isn't really a story. The story was just loosely tied together. In fact, it's multiple different things tied together, to make a mess of a story. That being said, I still had fun. I thought that the different bits and pieces we got was the fun to be expected with this franchise. For me, it still had a little bit of the charm from the first two. It isn't completely lost yet. The growth of Gru and his son was cute, but that was just about as interesting the movie got. I still had a lot of fun with the Mega Minions, I hope we can see more of them in the future. This franchise will forever be a guilty pleasure of mine.

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.

For what it's made for, it's a pretty good film. It's designed to provide entertainment, laughter, and a mental escape, and it definitely succeeds at that. The story is of course a bit lacking and the sequence of events are pretty predictable yet still filled with humour and action. When you watch a Minions movie or 'Despicable Me,' you look for the comedy, and although this one is filled with joke, unfortunately not all of them were good ones. Another observation: as we progressed from the first installment to this one, the minions' role has become less significant, which disappoints me since they were the reason I initially enjoyed these films. The voice cast remains incredibly strong, with accents and tones perfectly enhancing the movie's comedic aspect.

Score:6.5/10.

Despicable Me 4 starts off strong with an opening scene that had me hooked, especially with Pharrell Williams' catchy song setting the tone. The Minions, as always, are a delight, and their interactions continue to be one of the film's highlights.

The new villain, Maxime Le Mal, feels more formidable than previous adversaries, raising the stakes for Gru and his family. Gru's lines seemed odd at first - stupid and foolish - but they actually serve a purpose in the story, which I found interesting. The Karate Sensei character, however, came across as overly foolish and didn't add much to the film.

While the film introduces some original ideas, the execution falls flat. Despite this, the writing effectively explores themes like manipulation, teamwork, and the blurred lines between superheroes and supervillains, which I appreciated.

The film maintains its wholesome moments, and I loved the introduction of the mega Minions. The chase scene with Lucy was a fun watch, keeping the energy high. The OST remains true to the series, staying consistent with its predecessors. There are a few pop culture references sprinkled throughout, though I felt the film could have done with a couple fewer of these.

The ending of the film is satisfying, and I believe it wraps up the story well. If this is the conclusion of the series, it's a fitting end. Strong 7/10.

If it's not sacrilegious to say, I think this franchise is starting to run out of steam - the plot here isn't very original. The family "Gru" have a new child who doesn't much take to his father which only makes matters worse when arch-nemesis "Maxime Le Mal" - who is intent on turning everyone into cockroaches - escapes from custody bent on revenge on the man who put him in jail in the first place. Better safe than sorry, "Silas" relocates the family to a safe house where they have to pretend to fit in with the vacuous tennis club set, but one of that number - the feisty "Poppy" knows the secret and blackmails "Gru" into helping her pinch "Lenny" the badger from under the eyes of the diminutive "Principal Übelschlecht" at his alma mater. This adventure narks the headmistress and when she sees some video of the perpetrators, she's straight on to the phone with "Maxime" who hatches a plan to steal the baby and give him wings! The minions - and the newly formed and enhanced "Super Minions" - still manage to have some fun here as they discover their new home has a vending machine and an endless supply of popcorn, and there is some wit in the dialogue but the story itself is all pretty derivative and the animation looks a little too tired now. What was ground-breaking looks so much less now and the writing and characterisations are nothing special anymore. It does liven up for the last ten minutes, but the previously innovative and enjoyable mix of menace and mayhem has largely gone.