Critical Dud “Despicable Me 4” Still a Box Office Blockbuster

Discerning adult viewers may find themselves waiting all too often for a once-in-a-Minion moment of inspiration in this summer’s barely passable kid-friendly animated sequel. Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage’s Despicable Me 4 (D+) finds reformed supervillain Gru (voice of Steve Carrell) on the run with his family from revenge-seeking criminal mastermind Maxime Le Mal (voiced by Will Ferrell). The film is basically a patchwork of vignettes involving shape-shifting cockroaches, a surly baby, witness protection hijinks and a fleet of silly yellow henchmen gone wild in new and exotic shapes. Without a through-line of compelling story or a major comic touchstone, the film basically limps along to minimum babysitting length. The animation is fine but not particularly distinctive. It’s noisy and largely unfunny and will make buckets of money. 

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