Universal Pictures
‘Supervillain’ Gru and his band of Minions are back for a fifth go-round, following three Despicable Me and one Minions film, and if you’re not familiar with the franchise one bit — like me — then the latest film, Minions: The Rise of Gru, isn’t a bad place to start as it is a prequel to the three Despicable Me films (and as I learned, a sequel to the first prequel, 2015’s Minions and there is a fourth Despicable Me coming in 2024). But for me this was a good starting point because, as far as I could tell, there was only one gag that referenced a character in the other films that made some of the audience gasp audibly, much to my confusion. So I have some work to do.
Minions: The Rise of Gru won me over right from the start by setting the film in 1976. Gru (Steve Carell with a de-aged voice) is now 11 3/4 years old, the leader of his adoring band of Minions who live in the basement of the home he shares with his mother (Julie Andrews), at his every beck and call (there is a brief callback to how the Minions arrived at his service). Young Gru idolizes the supervillain team the Vicious 6, which is introduced at the top of the film as they carry out a mission to steal an artifact known as the Zodiac Stone, which will unleash incredible power to whomever possesses it at the strike of midnight on Chinese New Year. But the leader of the group, Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin), is violently ousted from the group (be warned about some of the film’s violence that may not be appropriate for the very young) which is taken over by Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson). The other henchmen include Jean lawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme), Nun-Chuck (Lucy Lawless), Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren) and Stronghold (Danny Trejo). Needing a new member to make them six again, applicants are being accepted. Gru is surprisingly accepted to be interviewed but he’s unceremoniously tossed out when Belle realizes he’s just a kid. While the five are distracted by the antics of another applicant, Gru manages to steal the Zodiac Stone to prove to them he is worthy of being a member of the group, and from that point a chase ensures as Gru and the Minions must avoid capture — unsuccessfully — with the help of a surprising ally or two, one of them being acupuncturist and kung fu expert Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh).
Minions: The Rise of Gru is a very well-balanced film that has enough juvenile humor and bright colors to keep the kids enthralled while packing in enough jokes and almost too-adult action to also keep the parents interested. The final action scene at the Chinese New Year parade features some imagery that youngsters may find quite frightening, so keep that in mind when deciding whether to bring your young-uns to the movie. The film’s 1970s time period also gives the filmmakers a chance to entertain an older audience who may have lived through that era with nods to clothing, hair styles and music (the soundtrack is filled with classic tunes covered by today’s artists, and includes a brand new song by Miss Diana Ross). The production design is spot on, and the textures that have been rendered out in the CG animation are unbelievably photorealistic (the textures of Belle Bottom’s afro, for instance, is uncanny). Directors Kyle Balda, Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val keep the story moving along at a rapid pace, and the screenplay by Matthew Fogel is quick-witted and never talks down to the audience.
Universal Pictures
The voice work is also excellent and so good that I had no idea who was doing what voices outside of Steve Carell and Taraji P. Henson. I don’t know if Carell did the voice of the young Gru himself of if there was some digital manipulation to make him sound younger, but his already established accent of indeterminate origin is intact, so he never misses a beat between the older and younger character. I had no clue Julie Andrews was Gru’s cranky mother, nor was I aware of the actors behind the voices of the Vicious 6 henchmen. I wasn’t even sure Alan Arkin was voicing Wild Knuckles but I assumed as he was an older character that Arkin was behind the voice. Probably the most familiar voice was that of Michelle Yeoh as Master Chow, who had one of the film’s funnier moments with the Minions and an acupuncture client. Not knowing who most of the voices were actually added to the film because I wasn’t distracted by the celebrity when I should be focusing on the character. And even among all of those stars, the real voice star of the movie is Pierre Coffin, who voices all of the Minions, somehow, with their specially created language that takes words from several different languages like Italian and Tagalog and strings them together into something unintelligible but still recognizable. Gru responds to them as if he knows exactly what they are saying, and even when they’re just babbling along with no one else around, we as an audience can still kind of figure out what they are saying. For a first-timer to the franchise, I found it puzzling but hilarious at the same time as I slowly eased into the Minion-speak.
I’d say if you are a fan of the previous four films, then you will absolutely enjoy Minions: The Rise of Gru, and if you’re a novice to the series then it is a decent jumping off point. The CGI is some of the best we’ve seen in an animated film to date, the colors are vibrant, the jokes are funny, and the action is fast and furious. I was hesitant to see the film, but in the end I had a really good time.
Minions: The Rise of Gru has a run time of 1 hour 27 minutes, and is rated PG for some action/violence and rude humor.
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