Minions Steve Carell, Alan Arkin, Pierre Coffin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Russell Brand, Danny Trejo, and Julie Andrews provide the voices for The Rise Of Gru.
Minions Kyle Balda directed the motion picture The Rise Of Gru, starring Jonathan del Val and Brad Ableton.
3.5 stars for the movie Minions – The Rise Of Gru
In “Minions: The Rise Of Gru,” those annoying little banana-loving, gibberish-spitting yellow critters make a comeback. And what fun this new adventure turns out to be—exactly what a snappy, upbeat, enjoyable summer movie should be.
If you’re keeping track, “Despicable Me 5” introduces us to supervillain-aspiring 11-year-old Gru (Steve Carell). Given that Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin) has fallen from fame and The Vicious Six gang, the worst villains in the world is looking for someone new, you’d think it would be simple to accomplish.
Gru is adamant that he is the real deal. He can let off the foulest fart bombs to empty a packed theatre or freeze people in a crowded store to jump the line. Unfortunately, Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), the Vicious Six’s new leader, is unimpressed, and neither are the other gang members who mainly hang out and growl when necessary.
This movie aims to prevent the accompanying adult(s) from passing out from boredom, which is essentially what happens when adorable little animated creatures go about spreading deathly heaviness. Since this movie is set in the early 1970s, there are many references to popular culture from that era, including Nun Chuck (Lucy Lawless), a nun who uses a nun chuck, Jean Clawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who has a giant mechanical lobster for an arm, and a lot of tall afros and wide bell bottoms.
The kids can laugh at the more childish jokes, and this is where the minions come in. Otto, the annoying young Otto, is joined by our old friends Stuart, Bob, and Kevin. It’s difficult to assign distinct personalities to what are essentially just bright yellow blobs that squeak rather than speak. But after a short while, you can distinguish Otto from the others. One sign that he is needier is that he immediately trades a rock, the only thing that minions truly adore (aside from bananas), for a priceless gem Gru has given him to guard.
So, Gru and his loyal henchmen are positioned alongside Knuckles as they combat the Vicious Six. The only aspect of your climax that doesn’t feel brand-new is that it reminded me of a town hall brawl between humans and dinosaurs from just last week. This is a climactic trope that never really seems to fade away. The remainder of it glitters.
Gru is never quite truly evil because of his neat appearance, which oddly never conflicts with his desire to be a supervillain. Minions are not either. The bad things they do are on a kindergarten level, so you can wipe, wash, and deal with them. Because of this, we can have so much pure, unadulterated fun with them and at them, even when they take control of a plane and manage to avoid crashing it after a series of heart-pounding events—a perfect sequence that will appeal to both children and adults.
And this time, Michelle Yeoh, a kung fu instructor, teaches the minions how to deal with guys who are a notch worse than themselves. But despite their claws and fangs, even the Vicious Six are pretty likable.
Excellent animation is used. Some scenes, particularly those that take place in San Francisco and feature those winding roads and trams, are breathtaking. The fact that each character feels alive, though, is what really makes this movie shine. For a franchise film whose characters are among the fastest-selling toys on the planet, that’s quite a feat.
