It must irk Woody, Buzz and everyone at Pixar that a comparatively latecomer rival studio can lay claim to cinema’s most successful animated franchise - one with an increasingly misleading title, to boot. Illumination Pictures’ record-breaking boast for Despicable Me is based on box office returns for five previous outings (including two spin-offs with the scene-stealing Minions front and centre), and in truth, its lead character hasn’t been especially despicable since about midway through the first film. Having made his bow in 2010, Gru (voiced, as always, by Steve Carell) continues to turn his back on villainy and instead focuses on bringing down the bad guys, while settling deeper into domesticity with his three orphan stepdaughters and, latterly, a wife (Kristen Wiig’s Lucy) and baby son of his own.
Happy home life takes on a twist in DM4, however, when his most recently vanquished foe, Maxime le Mal (Will Ferrell rocking an outrageous French accent), breaks out of prison and vows revenge not only on the man who put him there but his nearest and dearest too. Sign up to get alerts for movie news, reviews and recommendations By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy . You can unsubscribe at any time.
For their own protection, Gru, his family and little yellow henchmen are given new identities and relocated to the sleepy suburban backwater of Mayflower (“a lovely, safe, boring town”) - and, to paraphrase a well-know.
