U: Animation, comedy
Dir: Chris Renaud
Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Sofia Vergara
Rating: **1/2

Gru, the reformed bad guy who was introduced in the 2010 Illumination Studio’s popular original, is back as a family man being severely tempted into villainy in Despicable Me 4. Scripted by Mike White and Ken Daurio, and directed by Chris Renaud (who also directed the first two movies), the narrative pits Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) a snooty Frenchman who attended Lycée Pas Bon, Gru’s alma mater, against Gru (Steve Carell). If you will recall, Lycée Pas Bon is essentially a sort of training school for super-villains.

Old hurts bloom here. Maxime blames Gru for an age-old humiliation at the school talent show, and has been stewing over how he can avenge that. Their meeting is fraught with tensions, awkward exchanges and open challenges. The class reunion reawakens Maxine’s evil competitive spirit and he, backed by his girlfriend Valentina (Sofia Vergara), seeks vengeance by transforming himself into a genetically engineered cockroach man. Unfortunately, he gets arrested and confined to a super-villain prison. Eventually, he breaks out, re-teams with Valentina and  his cockroach army, and kidnaps Gru’s newest family addition, Gru Junior. No prizes for guessing where this is headed.