Every Despicable Me Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

Summary Despite mixed reviews, Despicable Me franchise surpasses Shrek as highest-grossing animated series at the box office.

Gru transitions from supervillain to adoptive father and crime fighter, with Minions remaining a constant presence in each movie.

Minions spinoff initially received criticism for lackluster storytelling, but succeeded by integrating Gru into the plot in subsequent films.

The best 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 surpassed 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 supportive 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.

Related Despicable Me & Minions Viewing Order (Release & Chronological) The best order to watch each of Universal Pictures' animated Despicable Me and Minions movies, in both release order and chronological order.

5 Minions (2015)

The Minions Origin Story

Minions Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

rent

buy Not available Not available Not available A spinoff of the popular Despicable Me film series, Minions is a prequel that focuses on the Minion's time before they worked for Gru. After serving several notorious evildoers throughout history, they are left without a master and desperately searching for a purpose in life. Three Minions hitchhike their way to Villain-Con, where they meet Scarlett Overkill (Bullock) and begin working for her. Director Pierre Coffin , Kyle Balda Release Date July 10, 2015 Cast Michael Keaton , Sandra Bullock , Steve Coogan , Allison Janney , Katy Mixon , John Hamm Runtime 91minutes

The cute yellow Minions got their own movie because they stole audiences' hearts in the first two Despicable Me movies. However, with the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of the franchise, 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 Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

rent

buy Not available Not available Not available Universal's Despicable Me 3 picks up with Gru, Lucy, and their adorable daughters - Margo, Edith, and Agnes, as they face off with Balthazar Bratt, a former '80s child star-turned-supervillain. Meanwhile, Gru is united with his long-lost twin brother, Dru. Like its predecessors, Steve Carrell returns as the loveable Gru. Director Pierre Coffin , Kyle Balda , Eric Guillon Release Date June 15, 2017 Cast Nev Scharrel , Steve Carell , Dana Gaier , Miranda Cosgrove , Kristen Wiig , Trey Parker Runtime 96minutes

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

Minions: The Rise of Gru Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

rent

buy Not available Not available Not available

Minions: The Rise of Gru is the second Minions film and the fifth movie overall in the Despicable Me franchise. The Minions sequel again stars Steve Carell as an eleven-year-old Gru who wants to become a supervillain. The only problem is that there's a new group in town called the Vicious 6 that puts a wrench in his plans. Director Brad Ableson , Kyle Balda Release Date July 1, 2022 Cast Steve Carr , Pierre Coffin Runtime 90 Minutes

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

Close

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 surpassed 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 Globes 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

Despicable Me 2 Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

rent

buy Not available Not available Not available Now the father of his three adopted daughters, Gru's life is about to get a lot more exciting when the Anti-Villain League, or AVL, sends their agent Lucy to recruit him for his help in tracking down a stolen mutagen that threatens the world. Director Pierre Coffin , Chris Renaud Release Date June 26, 2013 Cast Steve Carell , Kristen Wiig , Benjamin Bratt , Miranda Cosgrove , Russell Brand , Ken Jeong , Elsie Fisher , Dana Gaier , Pierre Coffin Runtime 98 minutes

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 joins 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 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").

What We Know About Despicable Me 4

Image via Illumination

The Despicable Me franchise continues in 2024. Illumination chose to stick with Gru's story and this movie is a direct sequel to Despicable Me 3. In Despicable Me 4, it seems the Anti-Villains League has decided to turn the Minions into super soldiers, which gives them new powers that allow them to battle villains on their own. While this is a Despicable Me movie and not a Minions movie, it seems the trailers have made the Minions the selling point, and it is unclear how much Gru will have to do with the plot.

The newest villain is Maxime Le Mal (voiced by Will Ferrell). and this sends Gru and Lucy into hiding, as they have to protect their new baby son, Gru Jr. While this means much more Minions, expect Gru and Lucy (and likely their kids) to also play a strong role in the story since that is what made the best Despicable Me movies so memorable. Despicable Me 4 comes out on July 3, 2024, in theaters.

Your browser does not support the video tag.