Despicable Me 4

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Despicable Me 4
• a review of Despicable Me 4 completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 25 June 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

As part of an ‘Anti-Villain League’ sting operation, Gru (voice of Steve Carell) attends his high school reunion to capture his old rival Maxime Le Mal (voice of Will Ferrell), as well as Maxime’s evil wife Valentina (voice of Sophia Vergara). Maxime does not go quietly and threatens Gru in the moments before he is hauled away. Gru is unnerved when he sees how vicious, vengeful and physically altered Maxime has become but, content that Maxime is finally locked up in a maximum-security prison, he returns to his family, which now includes his baby son Gru Junior. Within days of his return, Gru is alerted by the agency that Maxime has escaped and is coming for him and his family. Wasting no time, Gru and Lucy (voice of Kristen Wigg) take their children into hiding, assuming fake names and new identities, in a place where they hope never to be found. As the family struggles to assimilate into their new home, Gru is blackmailed by their new neighbour’s daughter Poppy (voice of Joey King), who discovers his identity and wants nothing more than to go into the same villainous high school that Gru once attended. Hatching a plan to steal the school mascot from the principal’s office, Poppy uses Gru’s expertise to help her achieve her objective but things don’t go quite according to plan, and the ill-fated adventure soon leads Maxime right to Gru’s doorstep with disastrous consequences for them all.

Revenge; Bullying; Blackmail; Good versus evil; Dishonesty; Genetic mutations.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Gru shoots a goo-gun at Maxime, trying to freeze the man’s cockroach pincers in an immobilising goo ray.
• A character is punched in the face.
• The Anti-Villain League helps Gru secure Maxime with net guns and tasers, which they simultaneously shoot at him.
• Maxime tells Gru that he will exterminate him.
• Maxime briefly escapes and tries to attack Gru before he is subdued once again.
• Minions shoot spit-balls at a bus driver’s neck and later throw a cream pie in his face.
• Two minions repeatedly slap another minion on the bottom.
• A dog attacks a minion.
• A wall comes down and crashes onto four minions.
• Edith karate-chops a character, breaking his toe and knocking him backwards into a gong that crashes down on top of him.
• Acid begins to burn through the scalp of a character who soon finds herself with a huge bald patch.
• A huge robotic cockroach blasts through the sidewalk and up the side of a building, damaging everything it encounters.
• Gru accidentally drives his car onto the sidewalk and into construction workers.
• A couple of minions drop soda cans on another minion’s head while he sits inside a vending machine. They then shake up a can and drop it into the machine where it explodes, knocking the minion into the glass.
• A minion is slapped into a wall.
• A minion uses his laser eye to blast through a cup of coffee, through a building, through the Earth, and through an igloo on the other side of the world.
• A ninja star hits Gru in the head.
• Maxime grabs a petrol station attendant and throws him into a row of shelves before shooting him with a cockroach gun.
• A character chases Lucy through a supermarket as Lucy tries to out manoeuvre her so as not to worry the girls. Items and displays are knocked over and groceries and utensils are thrown in the chase.
• A man’s bag is stolen and another character is hit in the face by a piece of metal pipe.
• A minion lasers a woman’s hair, chopping it off. He then accidentally lasers part of a cat’s tail and an umbrella stand at an outdoor cafe.
• A train ricochets backwards off the tracks and into a building.
• A mega minion eats a bomb that explodes in his mouth.
• Characters throw vegetables, coffee and signs at the mega minions.
• A honey badger attacks Gru.
• Gru accidentally stabs himself in the bottom with a tranquiliser dart.
• A character chases Gru in her souped-up wheelchair, with monster wheels that tear up the floor. She plummets off a second-floor landing and smashes into a portrait on the opposite wall. Her two henchmen plummet off the landing to the floor below.
• A red card is slammed over a character’s head.
• A man is hit with tons of tennis balls.
• A character smacks Gru with a ruler and then tries to hit him with a giant hand.
• A character grabs Gru and tries to punch, stab and hit him.
• Gru Junior bites Maxime.
• A character is crushed by a falling bookcase and furniture.
• Maxime and Valentina attack Gru and Poppy. Gru makes his way onto Maxime’s cockroach aircraft and Maxime does all he can to make Gru fall off.
• Maxime’s cockroach aircraft crashes into a construction site at the top of a building.
• A robot machine tries to stab and crush Gru as he scurries closer to the edge of the building.
• Gru and Maxime fight, with Maxime kicking Gru in the face and stepping on his hands as he holds onto a bar dangling over the edge of the building.
• Gru Junior bites Maxime’s ear.
• Gru punches Maxime in the face. Maxime falls off the building and hits lots of items on his way to the ground, knocking out some of his teeth in the process.
• A character is trampled by a stampede of buffalo.
• A character is covered in cheese and crushed by a giant minion.
• Maxime and Gru slap each other.
• One of the mega minions lasers another one.
• A minion crashes out of a vending machine, only to be nearly crushed by it and locked in a house which disappears underground in a full lock down.
• A minion gets punched through a cake.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Maxime transforms from a man into a cockroach monster with long antennas, wings and powerfully sharp arms and legs. He appears to be subdued but suddenly and violently attacks Gru, slicing a trophy in half and cutting Gru’s face. He later uses his cockroach gun to transform a petrol station attendant into a mindless cockroach monster. Viewers watch the man’s terror as he begs not to be hurt in the moments before he is shot with the ray gun. Maxime also transforms Gru’s baby into a mini cockroach monster, though viewers do not see this transformation happen.
• Maxime has developed a large machine that looks and moves like a cockroach. It stabs up city blocks and skyscrapers as it emerges from the earth and climbs up the sides of buildings. The sudden bursting through the ground as people flee in terror may upset some very young viewers
• Against their will, five minions are transformed into Mega Minions with superpowers, such as super strength, the ability to fly, a laser eye, an elastic body and an indestructible, stone-like body. This scene is not inherently scary, but the minions try to get out of going into the transformation machines and the man in charge of the test says, just as they enter, there is a chance that they could explode. The minions are clearly scared. They come out alive but are initially unable to control their powers, although they soon adapt quite well.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Gru Junior is kidnapped by Maxime and Valentina. The baby can be heard crying as he is taken from his home. Gru chases after Maxime who holds the baby, telling him that the boy is his now and that he will turn him into a cockroach too. Junior is holding his arms out to Gru and desperately trying to get back to his dad while Gru is horrified when it finally sinks in that Maxime has his son and that he will not be able to reach him in time.
• After Gru Junior has been turned into a cockroach baby he is forced to watch as Maxime tries to kill Gru. When Gru tells his son that he loves him it seems to break the spell and Gru Junior helps save his father. The baby’s eyes look glazed and vacant, but viewers can see the struggle in them when the spell is broken, and he decides to help his father. He is terrified and then angry and responds accordingly.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• The BTS logo is displayed on the back of a character’s phone.

Sexual references

• None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• A baby’s bare bottom is shown.
• A minion strips down to nothing but his underwear.
• A character’s large stomach keeps popping out from underneath his shirt, exposing his lower abdomen.
• A character repeatedly slaps his bottom as he dances in a gyrating fashion.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• A character consumes what can only be assumed is an alcoholic beverage.
• Two characters sip martinis at a table. One of whom quickly downs both glasses before she must leave.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Stupid
• Loser
• Jerk
• Gruser (Gru’s name combined with loser.)
• Coward
• The word ‘Strudel’ is used as an expletive.
• An agent goes by the name, “Ramsbottom”, which the minions find amusing and love to make fun of.

In a nutshell

Despicable Me 4 is an animated adventure and the fourth film to follow the exploits of Gru and his adorable family. Similar to its predecessors, the movie contains a fast-paced plot with vibrant graphics, lots of slapstick violence and humorous moments. The film is best suited to slightly older children and above.

The main messages from this movie are to never underestimate the bonds of family; that friendship (even tenuous ones) can be found in everyone if you take the time to understand where they have come from; and that, in the end, good will prevail, even if it’s not perfect.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Teamwork
• Love
• Ingenuity
• Courage
• Honesty.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Bullying or blackmailing others to get what you want.
• Holding a grudge and exacting revenge instead of talking to the other person about what is bothering you.
• Encouraging dishonesty.
• Using violence to ‘solve problems’.