Despicable Me 4 (Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Despicable Me is an unstoppable, long loved franchise. Starting off in 2010, the Steve Carell led films have brought joy to fans of animation and family fare. So when the newest entry came out in prime time for moviegoers it of course brought big bucks home to Universal. So how does the newest adventure for Gru and his family, and Minion brood stack up to the rest? Find out more inside the review, and as always, click the cover art at the end to buy yourself a copy! Minions, march!
Film: 
Despicable Me 4 returns to the screen with a fresh burst of mischief, laughter, and, of course, minions! The latest installment dives deeper into the lives of Gru, Lucy, and their adorable daughters as they face new challenges while maintaining the franchise’s signature mix of humor, warmth, and action.
This time, the movie combines a heartfelt family theme with an engaging new storyline that keeps things lively without losing the quirky charm that fans love. Gru, now fully committed to being a loving father and devoted partner, gets swept up in a high-stakes plot that threatens his hard-earned peaceful life. True to form, the minions are ever-loyal yet hilariously unpredictable, finding ways to complicate and enhance every situation in ways only they can.
The animation in Despicable Me 4 is vibrant and eye-catching, with the quality and attention to detail we’ve come to expect from Illumination. From the wild expressions of the minions to the slick action scenes, every frame is crafted to keep you engaged. The soundtrack, as always, adds a fun, energetic vibe that mirrors the upbeat tone of the movie, with several toe-tapping tracks that leave you humming as you leave the theater.
While some jokes and plot points may feel a bit predictable, Despicable Me 4 manages to keep things fresh by exploring new layers in Gru’s relationships with his family and friends. The film’s humor remains accessible, with enough clever gags to appeal to both young viewers and the adults who grew up with the series. This is especially true in the character dynamics; Lucy’s fierce yet loving personality balances Gru’s more awkward charm, and the daughters—especially young Agnes—add a lovable innocence to the story.
Overall, Despicable Me 4 is a delightful addition to the series. It’s family-friendly, funny, and heartfelt, making it a great choice for a fun movie night. The movie might not surprise viewers who are familiar with the formula, but it certainly doesn’t disappoint. Fans of the series will find plenty to love, and newcomers will be drawn in by the blend of humor and warmth that has kept audiences returning for over a decade.
Video:
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Layers: BD-100
HDR: Dolby Vision
Clarity/Detail: No surprise here – Despicable Me 4 looks impeccable in 4K. The animation has a 3D pop that benefits from the added resolution, while Dolby Vision makes the proceedings gorgeously colorful. The overall look of the film is tack sharp and of course grain free. Texture is especially noteworthy on clothing and animated facial features.
Depth: Animation always looks distinguished in the 4K format, and this film is no different, depth wise. Focus is exceptional, with backgrounds looking just as great as what’s up front!
Black Levels: Blacks are as dark as can be with no signs of crush!
Color Reproduction: Gorgeous comes to mind. Colors are outstanding and the full spectrum of colors is on display throughout the film. No flatness to be seen!
Flesh Tones: N/A.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio:
Audio Format(s): English (Dolby Atmos for Feature, Dolby Digital 2.0 & Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 for Bonus Content), French Canadian (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 & Dolby Digital 5.1 for Bonus Content), and Latin American Spanish (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 & Dolby Digital 5.1 for Bonus Content)
Subtitles: English, French Canadian, and Latin American Spanish
Dynamics: Not to be outdone in the audio department, Gru and crew’s exploits come home for the 4th time with a busy and booming Dolby Atmos track. The sound field is across the board room filling with attention paid to surround details and bass rumble. While the mix is Atmos it isn’t exceptionally immersive, but even imperfect, the mix is big, bold and a lot of fun.
Height: Height speakers act mostly as an extension to the surrounds, but occasionally bring discrete sound effects or music cues into their airspace for a while.
Low-Frequency Extension: Bass hits hardest with action scenes and music cues. As always, the ever reliable Heitor Pereira and Pharrell have scored the film along with quite a few modern and classic pop tunes and the music sounds fantastic.
Surround Sound Presentation: Surround channels bring you into the movie with lots of activity. The main sounds you’ll hear are crowd ambience, vehicle noise, blaster sounds and of course those darn Minions.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is neat and clean and easy to hear.
Extras:
Extras are varied for this release and great fun for fans of the animation process. Like many animated films I’ve been reviewing lately, there is a draw the character feature among others! This 4K release has a bundled Blu-ray, digital code and a slipcover.
Mini Movies:
Game Over and Over – After stumbling upon a powered-up game controller inside Gru’s lair, the mischievous Minions discover its ability to control one another, unleashing mayhem as they compete for high scores.
Benny’s Birthday – Benny finds himself trapped in a time loop of a Minion-style birthday party, encountering uproarious mischief at every turn.
Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes:
Class of ’85
Minions at the Reunion
Minions at Home
Big Day Out
Karate Round 2
Gru vs. Treehouse
Defibrillator
Mega Minions Mega Mix
Mega Minions in Lockdown
Featurettes:
Despicable Dialogue – Watch Steve Carell, Will Ferrell, and the rest of the cast perform some of their silliest lines in this hilarious montage of recording booth moments!
Meet the Cast – Get to know the actors behind your favorite characters! Featuring some of your old favorites like Gru, Lucy, and their girls as well as new favorites like the Prescotts and villains Maxime and Valentina.
Steve Carell: Gru
Kristen Wiig: Lucy
Joey King: Poppy Prescott
Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Madison Polan: Gru’s Girls
Stephen Colbert & Chloe Fineman: The Prescotts
Sofia Vergara: Valentina
Will Ferrell: Maxime
Making Of – The cast and crew of DESPICABLE ME 4 share a behind the scenes look at the creation of the fourth installment of this iconic franchise! Learn about the story, the new characters, the animation process and more!
Mega Minion Mayhem – Assemble the Mega Minions! Learn about the development of the five most unique Minions to date.
Rogues Gallery – Using the AVL’s state-of-the-art facial recognition software, we look back at the most nefarious villains from past DESPICABLE and MINIONS films.
How to Draw – Join Head of Story, Habib Louati, as he shows us how to draw the Mega Minions – Dave, Mel, Jerry, Gus and Tim!
Summary:
While it’s mostly an unnecessary entry into a full series of films, there’s no denying the staying power of Minions, Gru, and his blended family. Now that Gru’s good, the angle of making him heroic is fun, and the baby of course is added cuteness! This is an easy buy for collectors with kids and fans of escapist animation. The look of the film is immersive, and the story is simple and easy to take on. Worth a look for the curious and a buy for fans of the series, most certainly.
