All three Despicable Me movies ranked, before Despicable Me 4 hits theaters

The Despicable Me franchise is a family favorite. On July 3rd Despicable Me 4 comes out, and in preparation for the must-watch new movie my family and I went back and rewatched the first 3 movies in the series. I am rating them from least favorite to favorite as a fun refresher on all things Gru, Minions, and evil villains! 

The three movies from Illumination I rewatched are Despicable Me which came out in 2010, Despicable Me 2 which was released in 2013 and the last installment, Despicable Me 3 was released in 2017. From the time the first movie came out, my kids were hooked on the lovable girls Margo, Edith, and Agnes, the evil with a big heart Gru, and his silly Minions. 

Full disclosure, Despicable Me (all 3) are some of my family's favorite movies. So rating my least favorite to my favorite feels like rating chocolate chip cookies. They're all good! But, I take this role seriously and am up to the task! 

To start, my least favorite of the series is Despicable Me 2. We settle into Gru enjoying raising the girls, the adorable Minions are present and accounted for, and the music is on point from Pharell like the first. Love the rumble of bass and the wonderful song "I'm having a bad, bad day... ugh Despicable Me." It's chef's kiss, perfect! Agnes loves unicorns… It all lines up to be a great movie. The reason this movie is my least favorite in the series is based on my kids’ reactions. 

When this movie came out I had a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old (My 2-year-old wasn't ready to jump into the love of Despicable Me quite yet). My 5 and 3-year-old found the storyline somewhat boring. They lost interest in the middle. The plot of Gru meeting Lucy and working together to stop El Macho from turning Minions and everyone into mean, purple beasts was fun. Margo getting her first crush was cute. There is a fun car chase with crazy Minions at the wheel. Seeing the love grow with Gru and the girls even more was heartwarming. It just felt slow. In the rewatch over the weekend my now 16, 14, and 13-year-olds drifted to their ever-present phones during this movie. The end was fun with the expected dance number that seems to be a mainstay in the Despicable Me series. Even with these highlights, we all agreed it was the most “Meh” of the three movies. 

Moving on, coming at #2 of my favorite Despicable Me movies is Despicable Me 3. I really like this one and so do my kids. I absolutely loved the villain in this movie, Baltazar Bratt is a former child star stuck in the '80s. It is hilarious. He is the epitome of “peaked in high school.” He thinks he's hot stuff and frequently breaks out in the cringiest '80s dance moves. Complete with '80s style clothes, shoulder pads, and high-top sneakers. He alone is entertaining. Then you throw in Gru’s long-lost twin brother (With luscious locks of blonde hair) Dru; it's full of strong and funny characters. 

The Minions break away to find a better villain because Gru (with his lady love Lucy) have gone good. The Minions end up in prison and are the baddest prison gang around. Complete with banana prison tattoos, song and dance numbers and eventually breaking out of prison. Despicable Me 3 is fun, fast-paced, has great new characters to keep the OG characters on their toes and there are adorably sweet moments with Gru, the girls, and his beloved Minions. Honestly, the only reason Despicable Me 3 is not number one to me is because of nostalgia. 

Which brings me to the number one, most favorite movie from the franchise! My choice is the first Despicable Me movie. It's the OG movie and what made me and my kids fall in love with the movies! From the second Gru yells out “Assemble the Minions!” and we are introduced to the cutest little working crew to ever exist, we were all hooked. The cute Minion language, the over-exaggerated giggles, the affinity Gru has for the Minions. It's all so enjoyable. Adding in the responsible and smart Margo, the always up-to-no-good Edith and the sweet and unicorn-loving Agnes to the mix is the perfect way to introduce the characters. 

Don’t even get me going on the perfection that is Vector. He camouflaged a pyramid in his HOA, perfect house-matching neighborhood, had a squid gun, and thinks he's the coolest person to ever exist. Dr. Narfario is old, can’t hear, is slow-moving, and makes a fart gun because of his mishearing. Which brought years of giggles to my kids. We even had a fart gun that when the button was pushed had a banana smell to it.  We quote this movie to this day. We laugh at the same parts. My kids still recite their favorite parts as we watch this movie. 

Despicable Me came out swinging with amazing characters, huge attention to detail, (we still notice new actions the Minions or girls are making in the background of a scene) and the music hits in the best way. 

After watching these three Despicable Me movies, myself and my kids are excited for the newest addition to the series! Despicable Me 4 comes out on July 3rd! We already have our movie theater seats reserved, front and center ready to see what Gru and his crew are up to now. Even though my kids are all teens, they're just as excited as me to revisit these characters they absolutely adore. I'll take any excuse to hang out with my teens, a family movie night is always a win!

Here’s to hoping the newest addition to this Despicable Me franchise is everything we hope it is! I’ll be back next week with a parents guide review on the new movie. 

How would you rate the three Despicable Me movies?