Summary

• Despicable Me 4 ranks as the lowest-rated film in the franchise with a 55% Rotten Tomatoes score.
• Minions received mixed reviews and the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating before Despicable Me 4, but still made over $1.1 billion worldwide.
• Despicable Me 3 introduced new characters and returned to Gru's storyline, earning a slightly higher Rotten Tomatoes score than Minions.

The Despicable Me movies follow supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) and his faithful Minions navigating a world of crime, and eventually, crime fighting. The franchise has brought in a combined box office total of over $4.6 billion since 2010. Each movie received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. Regardless, in 2017, the franchise sured the Shrek movies as the most successful animated series at the box office. Though Gru once prided himself on being a supervillain, he becomes an adoptive father to three young girls, Margo, Edith, and Agnes.

After this, Gru and his family (including his future wife Lucy Wilde) become crime fighters instead of supervillains, as he realizes that being a ive father is most important to him in future movies. Although the villains change with every entry, the large cast of Minion characters persists throughout. None of the Despicable Me movies flopped, but some fared better than others, in their box-office totals and the various critical and audience reviews. As a result, it's easy to create a hierarchy of all the Despicable Me movies, ranked from worst to best.

6 Despicable Me 4 (2024)

The First Despicable Me Movie For Seven Years Fails To Impress

After two financially successful but critically middling Minions prequel movies, hopes were high among the fanbase for Despicable Me 4. Not only does the film feature a return to the adult Gru storyline (and, therefore, a continuation of the story teased in Despicable Me 3), but it also boasts a talented cast – including Will Ferrell alongside franchise stalwart Steve Carrell. However, despite these factors, Despicable Me 4 ranks at the bottom of all Despicable Me movies to date.

With a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 55% at the time of writing, Despicable Me 4 has the dubious reputation of being the worst-reviewed film in the franchise so far. Critics highlighted a formulaic plot and tired character tropes, with the movie bringing little new to the table. While it will likely prove to be a financial success, like every Despicable Me movie before it, Despicable Me 4 failed to restore the franchise to previous critical heights.

5 Minions (2015)

The Minions Origin Story

The cute yellow Minions got their own movie because they stole audiences' hearts in the first two Despicable Me movies. However, before Despicable Me 4, Minions boasted the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of the franchise. Many critics argued the Minions might function better as morsels of comic relief, not the main characters of a full-length film. To its credit, Minions was on Netflix’s top 25 movies in 2021, but the slapstick humor only went so far and the film ran out of steam. However, the movie brought in over $1.1 billion worldwide, so it is clear that Minions resonated with audiences.

The creators tried to give the people what they wanted: more Minions, but Minions ended up being too much of a good thing.

There's no doubt that Despicable Me would not be what it is today without the Minions, but the movie fell short critically and doesn't match up as well with the films where the Minions play second fiddle to Gru and his family. The creators tried to give the people what they wanted: more Minions, but Minions ended up being too much of a good thing.

4 Despicable Me 3 (2017)

Gru Meets His Evil Twin Brother

Despicable Me 3 continued Gru’s storyline while introducing some interesting new characters, like his twin Dru, and the new villain, Trey Parker’s Balthazar. Returning to a similar formula that the two prior Despicable Me movies followed, Gru and Lucy start by getting fired by the Anti-Villain League when Balthazar gets away. Gru’s whole family gets torn apart as his twin brother Dru (who he never knew existed) walks into his life.

The movie jumps all over the place with some pretty wild ideas. It’s a lot to keep up with and digest, but this is where the Minions do their part well: they provide little snippets of comic relief to break up the otherwise complicated storyline. While the opening weekend at the box office was not as successful as the previous two movies in the franchise, Despicable Me 3 still made over $1 billion worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). It was also slightly better reviewed, with a two-percent higher Rotten Tomatoes score than the previous movie, Minions. In a lot of ways, Despicable Me 3 was a return to form after the disappointing 2015 spin-off film.

3 Minions: The Rise Of Gru (2022)

The Origin Story Of Gru

After Minions failed to impress critics, the studio changed gears and returned to Gru with Despicable Me 3. Illumination also returned to the Minions, and this time, The Rise of Gru was a huge improvement. This allowed the studio to use the best of both worlds while making Gru the side character in this movie. The prequel takes the story to 1975 when an 11-year-old Gru starts his ascent with the help/hindrance of his new Minions. Gru is eventually targeted by a supervillain group known as the Vicious 6 after he steals the Zodiac Stone. The Minions help Gru along the way while protecting him from the Six.

Minions: The Rise of Gru succeeded where Minions failed because Gru was part of the plot. It's a little more forgettable and immaterial than the first two Despicable Me movies, but it remains a fun, occasionally inspired installment. The Rise of Gru made $107 million at the box office for its opening weekend, totaling $940.7 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), keeping the success of the franchise strong.

2 Despicable Me (2010)

The First Movie In The Franchise

The original Despicable Me movie introduced a whole bizarre world to fans. If it weren’t for the success of this first movie, the animated franchise might not have gone on to become the highest-grossing of its kind like it did when it sured Shrek in 2017. Gru goes through enormous character growth during the movie, turning from a supervillain into a super-dad for his adopted daughters, Margo, Edith, and Agnes. The movie is able to seamlessly introduce the fascinating Minions in such a way that audiences don’t question them, they just accept them and laugh with and at them.

The movie picked up a Golden Globe nomination and sits at 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Often, the first movie in a series gets bogged down in explaining the complex world that has been created, but that is not the case with Despicable Me. The film explains the world through showing, not telling, and it’s all the stronger for it. Combined with the likable characters, this was an easy hit, especially with children. The movie picked up a Golden Globes nomination and sits at 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

1 Despicable Me 2 (2013)

The First Oscar Nominated Movie In The Franchise

While both of the first two installments are classics, Despicable Me 2 eclipses Despicable Me. The 2013 movie was among many sequels that year that outdid their originals at the box office. Kristen Wiig s the franchise as Lucy and the story allows the audience to get to know the girls better and the movie works on every level. The Minions are at their absolute best here: they are more prominent than in the original Despicable Me, but not so much that it’s overbearing.

With the Minions at the center of El Macho’s plot to use them to achieve world domination, Despicable Me 2 shows that Minions can be the focal point, but still in bite-sized pieces. Since the original Despicable Me movie, Gru was always a family man at heart, and this movie really lets him shine as such. Despicable Me 2 is also the first Despicable Me movie in the franchise to earn an Oscar nomination, picking up one for Best Animated Feature and one for Best Original Song ("Happy").