July 3rd Despicable Me 4 premiered in theatres worldwide. From AMC in the USA to ‘Le Rex’, the small local theatre in the south of France I watched it in, this movie was shown absolutely everywhere. I must admit, I had high hopes for it to be the ‘Barbie’ of 2024, or anything better than the letdown that was Inside Out 2. I was deceived. 

Being 3 when the first film came out and 6 for the second, means growing up with this franchise. What isn’t there to like – an eccentric morally grey man who lives with a vicious dog, three stubborn daughters, and thousands of yellow creatures? They are all so hard-working, adorable, and yet so stupid that you can’t help but forgive them for all of the crimes they commit, but can we forgive this last film? 

If you haven’t watched all the movies, let me give you a quick recap: 

• Despicable Me (2010): Gru tries to steal the moon, but the villain Vector stops him, he ends up with 3 adoptive daughters
• Despicable Me 2 (2013): Gru resigns from his life of crime, the Anti-Villain League employs him, and he stops El Macho a super-villain rumoured to be dead
• Minions (2015): Prequel to Despicable Me, the minions are looking for a leader, they find Scarlet Overkill, Bob becomes King Bob, they find Gru
• Despicable Me 3 (2017): Gru is fired from the AVL, he reunites with his twin Dru, and they stop Hollywood from being destroyed by an old actor
• Minions: Rise of Gru (2022): Minions sequel, young Gru wants to join a Villain group, gets into trouble with them, is chased by them, meets a mentor
• Despicable Me 4 (2024): Gru has a baby, a childhood rival wants revenge, Gru’s family goes undercover, Gru and his neighbour Poppy fight the Villain

Minions: Rise of Gru would have been the perfect closure for the franchise. It would have shown both the Minions’ and Gru’s beginnings, their first big evil mission together, his redemption as he fights against evil, and finally his last mission with his brother. Why did he return to his school? Why did he not accept his defeat? Why did he let a child manipulate him? Why did he let that child join him on a mission? Looking past the fact that this movie was entirely unnecessary, is it not promoting unhealthy values?

When Gru does not accept that he did not win the award, it tells children that defeat is something to be ashamed of. Do we not tell children that failing is part of the learning process? That’s contradictory… When Gru takes his neighbour Poppy on a life-threatening trip it tells young girls that following middle-aged men in the middle of the night is safe. Finally, forcing his entire family to change names and personalities because of his career choices is a clear example of a man repressing his wife’s and his daughters’ identities. The moral implications of this movie are not what I believe young children should be exposed to. 

That being said, I did enjoy the ending (not just because it was over). Seeing all the supervillains from the cinematic universe I’ve loved my whole childhood was quite gratifying. I am sure we had all missed Vector. Now that they are all united in prison, I truly hope Gru doesn’t have any more villains to capture because that scene was the closure I wanted. I am grateful for these movies and all the good that came out of them, from 2016 minion jokes to the game ‘Minion Rush’, or minion-themed anything, Stuart, Kevin, and Bob are forever in my heart.