‘Despicable Me 4’ Review: Illumination Adds a Baby and Five Mega Minions to Gru’s Already Overcrowded Family

variety.com:

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Seven years have passed since the last “Despicable Me” movie, and the only thing that’s changed in Gru’s world is the addition of another child, Gru Jr., who’s the spitting image of his dad: hook nose, shifty eyes, squatty head — just with slightly more hair.

The addition of a biological son to a family of three adopted daughters (not to mention a platoon of unmanageable Minions) would be plot enough for “Despicable Me 4,” but whatever drama the new kid might cause goes underexamined in Illumination’s overstuffed sequel.

At times, it feels less like a feature than a collection of Looney Tunes-y shorts piled one on top of another. Returning director Chris Renaud crams in a new villain, a teenage protégé, several visits to Gru’s old boarding school, a heist (to steal a ferocious honey badger) and a hasty attempt to put the family into the witness protection program (imagine Gru trying to blend in with the country club crowd).

That leaves almost no room for the kind of emotional core that’s been this series’ secret weapon since the 2010 original. Compared to the “Toy Story” franchise, in which Andy aged alongside his audience, Gru (Steve Carell) and his crew — wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and their girls (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Madison Skyy Polan) — don’t grow older or any more interesting with each film.