'Despicable Me 4' is 'Incredibles' with Slapstick

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.

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.

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'.

Superman-Great Past and New Hero Magic

Superman (2025) poster. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. James Gunn's iteration of Superman was a well-thought-out film. I give it a 9.4/10 for both the occasional references to the Christopher Reeve film from the late 1970s and for standing out with different presentations of the iconic Man of Steel and his colorful supporting characters. This was my first time seeing David Corenswet, but he was great acting out the drama and heroism in the lives of Clark Kent and Superman. It was also great to see Rachel Brosnahan bring some gumption and humor to her role of Superman's love interest, Lois Lane, and it was great to see former X-Men actor Nicholas Hoult bring some vigor to his role of Superman's ruthless archenemy, Lex Luthor. In this Superman, it stood out by skipping the intro of Kal-El leaving Krypton as a baby and instead showing Superman, played by Corenswet, in his third year of protecting Metropolis and the world. In his quest to prove Superman a threat to humani...

'Roofman': Channing Tatum Played a Lovable Thief

Poster for 'Roofman.' Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Miramax. Channing Tatum played Jeffrey Manchester, an ex-Army Reserve soldier and divorced dad who had a penchant for details and thieving. He was known as "The Roofman" for breaking into his targets by drilling into their roofs. It was like Tatum channeled Sam Dawson and Scott Lang into one as his character managed to find a way to sneak out of prison underneath a truck with skills from prison shop, then make a home in a corner in a 2004 Toys 'R Us. It was pretty funny and amusing how Jeffrey sort of took control of the store after closing. How he snacked on M and M's, skated around on Heely-like shoes, he acted like a grown man with a kid's bedroom with inflatables and Spider-Man merchandise, and he kept security with baby monitors. It was also kind of funny how he made money out of stealing and pawning a bunch of video games. While trying to get out of the country after fleeing to the store, Jeff...

'Sarah's Oil': A Sharp-Willed, Inspirational Tale

Poster for 'Sarah's Oil.' Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Naya Desir-Johnson triumphed as the eponymous character of Sarah's Oil . She channeled intelligence, comic relief, and proud spirit in her role as child oil baron Sarah Rector. I also enjoyed Zachary Levi's role as Sarah's business partner Bert Smith with his Southwestern charm and protectiveness over Sarah. You'll also appreciate the performance of Sonequa Martin-Green as Sarah's mother, the costume designing by Michael T. Boyd, the scoring by Kathryn Bostic, and the filming in Oklahoma where the story took place. In the early 1900s, Sarah Rector, played by Desir-Johnson, was granted land that, unbeknownst to people of power at the time, had crude oil gushing underneath the infertile land. With help wildcatter from Bert Smith, played by Levi, and her family, and eventually others in Oklahoma, Sarah shows certain racist people that she will stop at nothing to drill for that oil and make a great l...

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