Options on The Cockroach (2041)?
I think it just showed how milked and tired the Despicable Cinematic Universe really is, turning it into a product of rushed climaxes and a clash of ideas. This was the start of the fall.
Coming immeadiently after Gru: Apocalypse, this completely reconned the PX-41 arc that was previously brought up in the Brotherhood of Macho, by making it take place even before Despicable Me 6: The Crimes of Gru.
After the New AVL's fall in Despicable Me 7, this movie focused on the aftermath, involving an intense rivalry between Ramsbottom and Maxime Le Mal.
In my honest opinion, the decision to go back here is the main reason why this movie is the confusing mess that it is. The acclaimed Vector miniseries back in 2032 seemed to be the height of the franchise for a long while. This movie felt like a lazily rushed rehash of it.
Ramsbottom himself does not work as a protagonist, especially since this movie actively decides to not even care about Silas's character.
In fact, the only thing that this film cared about was the set up. I can assume that the upcoming film, "The Despicable Seas", will succumb to the same fate as this one. As we know, The Gru vs. Dru 5 movie arc already did suffer this fate. I still believe that the Gru vs. Dru arc only needed to be one or two movies, but that's for another review.
As you know, both are trying too hard to set up "The Despicable Men", which will be releasing soon. However, this movie chose the worst way to do that. This film takes place pre-Brotherhood of Macho and pre-Bratt vs. El Macho. In fact, this takes place 10 years before the Px-41 arc even begins. The post credit scenes won't even canonically be important until 10 years after it happens.
It just shows how bland this franchise is, as they're trying to rush to the finish line as quick as possible.
This movie also suffers from the same fate as "The Crimes of Gru" or "Love and Minions", that is being too hard and gritty. It's almost as if the franchise is scared of its own concept.
If you ask me, Despicable Me 5 was the last decent movie in the franchise. The millisecond they tried to expand, it all went downhill.