"Minions: The Rise of Gru" - Film Review
Minions: The Rise of Gru is the fifth installment of the Despicable Me franchise that began with Despicable Me in 2010. The spin-off prequel, Minions, was released in 2015, and Rise of Gru is the sequel to Minions. It features the babbling, unintelligible, banana-loving Minions (all voiced by Pierre Coffin) in yet another tale filled with hilarious hijinks.
The Rise of Gru takes audiences back to groovy 1979 to witness Gru’s (Steve Carrell) humble beginnings as a supervillian. He’s only eleven years old, but Gru dreams of joining the Vicious 6, the most dangerous villains in the world. The group was created by Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin) and includes Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), Jean-Clawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme), Nun-chuck (Lucy Lawless), Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren), and Stronghold (Danny Trejo). When their latest heist to steal the Zodiac Stone goes south, Wild Knuckles is kicked out of the group.
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Gru is given the opportunity to try out for Wild Knuckles’ place in the Vicious 6, but the group doesn’t really take him seriously because of his age. In an effort to prove that he’s villainous enough for the group, Gru steals the Zodiac Stone from the Vicious 6. He gives it to Otto (a Minion) for safekeeping, but Otto trades the Zodiac Stone for a googly-eyed pet rock. With the Vicious 6 hot on his trail, Gru must track down the Zodiac Stone and earn his place as a villain.
The creators of Minions: The Rise of Gru are well aware that kids cannot get enough of the goofy antics of the Minions. The movie is filled with fart jokes and plenty of physical humor that result in wave after wave of children’s laughter in the theatre. The adults who are inevitably forced to watch and rewatch this movie should note that there are far more gratingly obnoxious kids’ flicks out there.
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The pace of Minions: The Rise of Gru is quick, never fully lingering on any scene or situation. Nor should it. No movie made with a young audience in mind needs to be longer than an hour and a half. There are plenty of examples of kids' movies that also cater to adults with innuendo and more nuanced themes. The greatest strength of Minions: The Rise of Gru is that it manages to be pleasant for adults while entertaining the kids.
The animation is exciting and the scenes with Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh) in Chinatown are exceptionally vibrant. The 1970s setting gives animators the opportunity to experiment with new styles, rather than being pigeon-holed into the look of the previous franchise films. The soundtrack of ’70s music and the animated streets of San Francisco add a liveliness that’s beneficial to the breeziness of the movie.
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Ultimately, Minions: The Rise of Gru is solid. The runtime doesn’t overexert the potentially irritating nature of the Minions, and the new characters breathe life into the franchise. The film proves to be a more than serviceable entry into the Despicable Me franchise and will most likely not be the last we see of the Minions.
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