FILM CLIPS 'Despicable Me 4' "Despicable Me 4" is an interminable 95 minutes of circular, intertwining, seemingly never-ending storylines rendered with such audio-visual cacophony that it dissolves into an indiscernible din. This fourth (or is it sixth?) installment of the inexplicably popular animated franchise featuring those dreaded Minions has all the charm of an ocular migraine, but small children did rush to dance in front of the screen during the end credits, so what do I know? Directed by long time Minion wrangler Chris Renaud, with Patrick Delage, "Despicable Me 4" naturally centers on Gru (Steve Carell), the proud supervillain with an army of banana-obsessed Minions (voiced by French madman Pierre Coff n). He has now settled down with a cute wife, Lucy (Kristen Wiig), four kids and a pet goat, and he even works for the Anti-Villain League.
This line of work intrudes on his domestic bliss when he nabs an old classmate on behalf of the AVL at the Lycee Pas Bon (School of Villainy) reunion and earns himself an enemy in the process, an old high school rival named Maxime (Will Ferrell). There is something weirdly — and undeniably — charming about the character of Gru, which is why they must keep making these. Those Minions certainly do have moxie, and the silly, quasi-naughty humor and style apparently acts as a chemical stimulant for children.
But this installment is so noisy and aimless, it feels like they didn't just hit the end of the road, they kept going past t.
