Gru (Steve Carell) and family are forced to adopt fake identities and move home when his school nemesis Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) threatens their lives. Of course this does not prevent them from getting into all sorts of mischief along with the minions and baby Gru Jr. joining in the fun. 

On the whole the Despicable Me films have been incredibly fun family movies that I have enjoyed a lot. Whilst the Minion spin off movies hit their stride when they included a child Gru to balance them. For the first time here, in what is the seventh feature film in the extended Despicable Me / Minions universe it feels as though the creative team are treading water somewhat. Despicable Me 4 knows exactly what its audience is looking for and achieves it with little innovation or originality. 

The side plot featuring the minions being transformed into terrible superheroes is only ever going to satisfy younger viewers. Whilst Will Ferrell’s cockroach loving villain is not as creative or fun as previous villains in the franchise. But the film still manages to cram lots of gags into its ninety-four minute runtime that will keep you amused. 

The law of diminishing returns on sequels is certainly present here in an amiable sequel that you will struggle to remember in amongst the other better films in the franchise.