Movie review: 'Despicable Me 4' throws everything at the screen to see what sticks

It’s too bad theaters don’t show short subjects much anymore.

Then, the Minions might find a home that’s fitting.

Shoehorning them into all sorts of stories (the “Despicable Me 4” way) is a bit frenetic and difficult to understand. Still, they’re in the latest sequel, helping Gru battle a foe from school who wins a distinguished alumni award. The guy – who morphs into a cockroach – is out to get Gru (Steve Carell) and his family to prove his superiority. To protect them, the AVL (anti-villain league) sends them to a community that seems just as heinous. A girl lusting to be a villain lives next door and before any of this starts to bubble, the Minions manage sight gags and the visual equivalent of dad jokes. They’re fun, but they really have nothing to do with the revenge story surrounding the Gru clan.

Instead, “Despicable Me 4” is best consumed like snack food. Pay attention if you must but what you see on the screen may have nothing to do with what you’ll see five minutes later.

What’s interesting is the way director Chris Renaud manages to turn the  reformed supervillain and his family into a Universal Studios version of “The Incredibles.” Gru Junior is practically a Jack-Jack clone. He gets into a plenty of trouble and manages to find the warm spot in his father’s heart. Meanwhile, the family has to assume new identities, so the haughty neighbors (voiced by Stephen Colbert and Chloe Fineman) don’t discover their true Gru. That means pretending to play tennis and indulging daughter Poppy (Joey King) in her villainous aspirations.

Floating in a roachmobile overhead, Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) and his girlfriend Valentina (Sofia Vergara) must cope with concepts lesser mortals take for granted.

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When you see them at a gas station, you realize much of this must have been concocted while the writers were waiting on the freeway in Los Angeles. Lucy (Kristen Wiig) gets one of those moments in a grocery store; the Minions enjoy visual gags while assembling in all parts of the world.

Clearly, the film is designed to appeal to an international audience, sell lots of merchandise and prompt a parade at the Universal theme parks. An Olympic moment might have helped extend this concept into the Paris games – but there’s still time.

Again, “Despicable Me 4” is all over the place. When a honey badger becomes a new character, you know there’s economics behind its inclusion. Honey badger? Coming to a Happy Meal near you!

Kids, no doubt, will love the TikTok approach to storytelling. They won’t necessarily get the lifelong grudge premise, but they’ll enjoy the Super-Minions who join the fray (and could be in stores just before Halloween).

Vergara and Ferrell camp it up appropriately and give you a reason to look up from your cellphone. When they devolve into singing “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” you realize it’s part of a formula that started with “Shrek” and prospered during “Trolls.”

As summer cartoons go, “Despicable Me 4” isn’t in the same league as “Inside Out 2” but it does keep the kids from running up and down theater aisles. For that, we can be grateful.