Maxime is not your average bad guy. Imprisoned by Gru at the film’s start, this French-accented cockroach-obsessed villain escapes with a vendetta. To protect his family, Gru is forced into the Witness Protection Program. The family relocates to the idyllic, boring suburb of Mayflower, assuming new identities: Gru becomes "Chet Cunningham," a solar panel salesman.
When the world first met Gru in 2010, no one predicted that the tale of a snobbish supervillain with a heart of gold would blossom into a $4.6 billion juggernaut. Yet, here we are. The release of Film Despicable Me 4 marks not just a sequel, but a cultural event. As the summer blockbuster season unfolds, Illumination Entertainment has delivered another high-octane, banana-fueled adventure that challenges the franchise's own legacy.
The film excels in its "fish out of water" premise. Watching Lucy Wiig struggle to be a normal suburban mom (she tries to arrest a mailman for "suspicious loitering") is comedic gold. However, the film suffers slightly from "sequel bloat"—there are three subplots running simultaneously (Gru’s heist with Poppy, Lucy’s suburban war, and the Mega-Minions). Released in early July 2024, Film Despicable Me 4 shattered expectations. Despite mixed-to-positive critical reviews (74% on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing), audiences gave it an "A" CinemaScore. Domestically, it opened to $122 million over the five-day holiday weekend. Globally, the Film Despicable Me 4 box office crossed $900 million, proving that families remain loyal to Illumination. It currently ranks as the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2024.
A: The runtime is 94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes). It is the shortest film in the main series, which helps keep the pacing tight.
If you love the Minions, you will be delighted. If you hate the Minions… you probably stopped reading two paragraphs ago.
