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| Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, is back in 'Despicable Me 4'. Courtesy of Universal Pictures. |
On Friday, July 5, I watched Universal and Illumination's latest work, 'Despicable Me 4.' I felt like they were returning to the original film's roots with Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, being superbad and a super dad, along with cool original songs from Pharrell Williams, clever voice acting and characters, and humor and action that reminded me of 'The Incredibles' with slapstick.
In this sequel, Gru is back in the Anti-Villain League and must contend with a villain without sea creatures, mutation serums, or a keytar. That villain was Maxime Le Male, voiced by Will Ferrell, a primadonna rival who plans to conquer the world with cockroaches. Gru must protect his wife Lucy, voiced by Kristen Wiig, daughters Margo, Edith, and Agnes, voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Madison Polan, respectively, and newborn son, Gru, Jr, voiced by Tara Strong. And of course, there's comic relief from the Minions, voiced by executive producer Pierre Coffin.
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| The Minions, voiced by Pierre Coffin, return in 'Despicable Me 4' Courtesy of Universal Pictures. |
'Despicable Me 4' was similar to 'The Incredibles' with Gru trying to be the protective and bonding dad, Gru Jr being a tricky baby like Jack-Jack, and Maxime acting like Syndrome with some eccentricities from Sacha Baron Cohen. Though Gru may have softened up from being despicable, he was still funny on his own with his bumbling parenting, or struggling to mingle with his new neighbors, Perry and Poppy Prescott, voiced by Stephen Colbert and Joey King, respectively.
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| Poppy Prescott, voiced by Joey King, a new character in 'Despicable Me 4'. Courtesy of Universal Pictures. |
Poppy physically reminded me of Audrey, Taylor Swift's role from 'Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.' She was funny and intimidating in trying to get Gru out of his shell and teach her the art of villainy. Next, they performed a heist that ended with a showdown with an older villain that could make throwbacks of the Omnidroid or Doctor Octopus. Talk about "Granny overboard."
And though this is primarily Gru's story, Ferrell's character of Maxime Le Male really stole the show. As I said, he was a primadonna, and a knockoff of Syndrome and Sacha Baron Cohen, because he was obsessed with taking Gru down. He also reminded me of Dave the Octopus, John Malkovich's character from Dreamworks' 'Penguins of Madagascar.'
All in all, I would give Despicable Me 4 a 7.5/10 for showing that the franchise can still kick butt, make some laughs, and have excellent spy scoring from composer Heitor Pereira and original songs from Pharrell Williams. There's also some uplifting music Cameo, Blackpink, and Tears for Fears. I'd just suggest more screen time for Gru and the girls; I feel like I don't see enough of their father-daughter moments. Feel free to check out 'Despicable Me 4'.
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