FRIDAY, JULY 5. Despicable Me 4 finds former supervillain Gru, left, voiced, as always, by Steve Carell, and the rest of his family living a sleepy suburban life. PHOTOS: ILLUMINATION/UNIVERSAL PICTURES 2024 STRATFORD BEACON HERALD BS Return of the Despicable Me gang is an imaginative, yet overly plotty, adventure You can’t have a Despicable Me movie without the lovable Minions — you just can’t. MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN The latest instalment in the Despicable Me franchise, the series of animated comedy films centring on Gru, a semi-re- formed supervillain voiced by Steve Carell, is a fish-out-of-wa- ter tale set ina sleepy suburban safe house. It’s also a revenge story, precipitated by the escape ’s arch-nemesis Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) from maxi- —nowa do-gooder working for the Anti-Villain ees (AVL) — apprehend Maxii It’s explained that the French-accented, pompadoured antagonist in a knee-length, green-and-gold brocade puffer coat has managed to turn himself into a virtually indestructible human-cockroach hybrid, with a weapon te can do the same to his enemi Aiszinie ae has the ability to control a literal army of literal cockroach soldiers in literal little green helmets. Ew. But at? At the same time, the movie somehow becomes a heist flick, after Gru’s teenage neighbour (Joey King), an aspiring baddie with braces and a lisp, discovers Gru’s true identity and black- mails him into helping her steal the honey badger mascot from Gru’s alma mater, a school for budding criminal masterminds. The name of the Hogwarts-like academy is Lycée Pas Bon, which translates awkwardly to some- thing close to High School Not Good, in the manner of a franco- phone Tarzan. Oh, and one more thing: No Despicable Me movie would be worthy of the name with- out a healthy (or should I say unhealthy?) aces of Gru’s hench- men, the Minion: Five of those dally antibiot- ic-shaped underlings, in their boss’s absence, have been trans- formed into mutant superheroes by a secret serum developed by the AVL. The Mega Minions, as they are known, resemble a mash-up of the Fantastic Four and X-Men. Does the title Despicable Me 4 simply refer to the film’s numerical position in the saga, begun in 2010, including two full-length Minion spinoffs? Or DESPICABLE ME4 x out of 5 Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell Directors: Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage is it a reference to the number of separate plots here? All the storylines simultaneously vie for the attention of Mom an Dad and their underage charges. Pop songs from the 1980s appear alongside gently scatological and buttock-related humour. Lil Maxime’s roach-man, Despicable Me 4 isa hallucinatorily imagi- native yet overstuffed amalgam of unrelated elements. Perhaps some credit/blame should go to the twisted mind of Mike White, creator of The White Lotus, who joins franchise veteran Ken Daurio as co-screen- writer here, along with returning series director Chris Renaud and his new co-director Patrick Delage. There’s just a lot going on. Atop that list are the strug- gles of Gru, masquerading as asolar panel salesman named Chet, and his crime-fighting a Bord Villains Maxime, left, and Valentina are voiced by Will Ferrell and Sofia Vergara. wife, Lucy (Kristen Wiig), going undercover as an inept hairstyl- never focus on just being evil.” As always, kudos goes to Imag- ination Entertainment’ 's visu- ist. Much of the film concerns their difficulty to middle-class parentocel while in hiding from Maxime: chauf- feuring three adopted daughters to school and karate lessons, coping with a new infant son, grocery shopping and playing tennis with snooty country-club- bers (Stephen Colbert and Chloe Fineman). Itisn’t always easy to keep track of what’s happening or why. Between Ferrell's and Carell’s over-the-top fake accents (Gru is supposed to be Russian) and the voice of Maxime’s girlfriend, also played for laughs by Colombi- an-born Sofia Gee Despica- ble Me 4 can be cont At times, however, este may be reminded that the franchise, which began as a fairly straight- forward story of a supercriminal going soft after he falls for a trio of orphans, seems low on creative fuel. At one point, the nudge is is s unintentionally explicit: When that his ally i character design, beginning with the barrel-chest- ed, toothpick-legged Gru, who, as Maxime puts it, looks like a “walking boiled potato.” And there’s the melted-looking visage ofjowly AVL director ae es bottom (Steve Coogan) — there’s a joke about his ites name. The rest of the animation is, as arule, suitably loony. You may even find yourself pleasantly distracted from the plot now and again while fixating on random visual details, such as the grey Ubelschlecht, the headmistress of the Lycée Pas Bon. It’s worth the diversion. As for whether any of us really needs yet another Despicable Me sequel in the first place — let alone four mini-movies, spliced together as if by a blast from Maxime’s Roachinator gun, like separate featurettes into a freak- ishl i whole — you, bug-shaped airplane is running on fumes, the character laments: “It’s always something. I can DeGeneres axes standup shows Ellen DeGeneres has cancelled four shows on her Ellen’s Last Stand... Up Tour. The comedian will no longer perform in Dallas on July 10, San Francisco on July 21, Seattle on July 23 or Chicago on Aug. 11. Ticketmaster notified fans on its website. I It said that public eye in Reet Ages astandup show in Los Angele: Rucker stands up for singer Wallen Darius Rucker says fellow country singer Morgan Wallen has grown asa person since he was filmed using a racial slur in 2021. Wallen had used the word ib , but it didn’ give: areason for the can- cellations. DeGeneres began her king fun at her being “kicked ae of show business: ” In 2020, from the spotlight after the final episode aired but returned to the friend after a night out. “I’ve known Morgan along time,” Rucker said on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. “Since all that happened, Morgan’s tried to really better himself and become a better person and see the world in a much better, better way.” Rucker added that “the fact that Morgan Wallen is not up for entertainer of the year and those things is crazy. No one’s selling more tickets than Morgan.” After footage of the incident circulated online, Morgan was suspended from his record label contract, removed from radio airplay and disqualified from the 2021 Acad- emy of Country Music aah ‘as He had also issued an apol Applegate reveals her bucket Christina tae has shared et bucket list amid her battle with the illness, telling fans she has 30 lesions on her brain and has lost circulation in her legs. Timberlake ‘mug’ hangs in gallery Justin Timberlake’s mug shot is hanging in an art gallery, reports People. The singer was arrested last month in Sag Harbor, NY., for “operating his v vehicle in an in- ion,” authorities The $s, 52, announced in August sas ra had been diagnosed with the chronic autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system or brain and spi- nal cord. “There are things I want to do with the days I have left in life,” she said on X. “I want to work with Shirley MacLaine. And do shots with Cher! And yesmy days are so big. Just saying.” Ap- plegate has been open about life previously told the outlet. Now, visitors to the Romany Kramoris Gallery in that same town can view the limited-edition piece. Artist Godfrey Lohman brought the art piece to the gallery, and it has attracted plenty of visitors. The gallery plans to carry Tim- berlake’s mug shot pieces, which are available in several colours, until the end of summer. 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