Minions: The Rise of Gru Review

Back in 2010 Illumination announced themselves with Despicable Me and the franchise has become the bedrock of the studio. A fifth film in the franchise has now been released with Minions: The Rise of Gru acting as a prequel.

Gru (Steve Carell) is a boy with big dreams. He longs to be a supervillain and wants to join the Vicious 6, the most notorious set of villains in the world. When an opening becomes available Gru applies but when he gets dismissed due to his age the young lad steals a Chinese amulet from the group. Gru quickly becomes a target of the Vicious 6 and Gru’s favourite villain, Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin).

Illumination’s track record as a studio has been great from a financial standpoint, but critically it has been a mixed bag. Even within the Despicable Me franchise the critical reaction has been mixed. The first two films were better received than Despicable Me 3 and Minions. Illumination has never matched the emotional heights of Pixar or Dreamworks, but they have clearly done something right to be so successful.

The Minions were the breakout stars of Despicable Me. They had a simple design, they provided lots of slapstick humour, and they speak gibberish, so have a universal appeal. As the franchise progressed the Minions’ role increased. However, their first solo film showed that Minions couldn’t carry a film by themselves. They work as side characters.

Minions: The Rise of Gru should have been called Despicable Me: The Rise of Gru since it was a Despicable Me prequel. Gru was the main character, and the Minions were side characters. Gru got to work with his hero, and they had to work together to defeat the Vicious Six. He was the one with a character arc since Wild Dynamite acted as a father figure and he had to learn the importance of loyalty. It was a case of going back to basics for the franchise since the heart of the first film was about Gru learning to be a father.

Minions: The Rise of Gru was a busy film. It had numerous storylines going on at the same time. Besides Gru and Wild Dynamite having an adventure together, Kevin, Stuart, and Bob go to San Francisco and get taught martial arts by Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh), Otto loses the Chinese amulet and travels across America to get it back, and the Vicious 6 hunt for Gru and Wild Dynamite. Yet it all centred around Gru and the movie’s MacGuffin. It didn’t feel like another Illumination film, The Secret Life of Pets 2 where it felt like three separate plots that were bolted together.

Minions: The Rise of Gru was a film designed for children. There was a lot of physical and visual humour throughout. Some of my favourite moments were the Minions getting their martial arts lessons, Master Chow using acupuncture to control one of her clients, and the Minions taking control of a flight (do not watch this film on an airplane). Adults can enjoy the ‘70s styling and soundtrack.

The film did have a mixture of styles. It opened by introducing the Vicious 6 like they were in a comic book and Wild Dynamite having an Indiana Jones-like quest through ancient ruins and booby traps. There was a James Bond-style title sequence and Gru’s invitation to the Vicious 6 was like a Mission Impossible briefing. More time-specific references involved the use of disco, the Bruce Lee-style kung fu motif, and the main villain, Bell Bottom (Taraji P. Henson) looked like she came out of a Blaxploitation movie.

Rise of Gru does make references to the original films. The biggest reference was showing how Gru met Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand). Other references were small like meeting some characters from the previous films, but any newcomers to the franchise would still be able to follow the film and characters without much prior knowledge.

The Despicable Me and Minions franchises are light-hearted family entertainment and Rise of Gru continues that tradition. It doesn’t have the emotional depth or storytelling of films from Pixar or Dreamworks, but it does cater to families with younger children and is fun for all ages.