Minions: The Rise of Gru Movie Review

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” — In The Beginning, Illumination Entertainment created ‘Me’ – and they saw that Me was Despicable. The overlords saw that it was not good for Me to be alone. So, thus was begat the ‘Minions’ – and these yellow companions were adorably annoying. The Sequel was begat, in order to fill the void that did not have adorably annoying creatures. Then, Sequels begat even more Sequels. And as the Sequels multiplied, the creatures grew less adorable…

Back in the days of the late 1970’s, the young future Super-Villian was still a teenage boy. This was Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), who still lived at home and was learning to be bad. His mother, Marlena Gru (voiced by Julie Andrews), did not know that Gru had already found a group of hench… uh — his minions. All of these Minions, such as Kevin, Stuart, Bob and Otto (all are voiced by Pierre Coffin), were loyal to the ‘Mini-Boss’. But man, they could not even reach room temperature on an IQ test. Even in a refrigerated room.

Gru was focused more about his future. He adored a national group of Super-Villains called the ‘Vicious 6’. The group had a leader named Wild Knuckles (voiced by Alan Arkin). He was backed up by Belle Bottom (voiced by Taraji P. Henson), and also Jean Clawed (voiced by Jean-Claude Van Damme), Nunchuck (voiced by Lucy Lawless), along with Svengeance (voiced by Dolph Lundgren) and Stronghold (voiced by Danny Trejo). These were a nasty team of thieves and cut-throats. In fact, after the most recent heist in China — the group, led by Belle, dumped the old leader Wild Knuckles.

The Vicious 6 was short a team member, and Gru went in to apply for job. In the place where the ‘6’ had a secret lair, Gru meets a young scientist. His name is Dr. Nefario (voiced by Russell Brand), and he will come work for Gru later. But for now, his interview does not go well. But before Gru leaves, he snatches up the latest booty from the heist in China. It is a magical Zodiac Stone. Gru is saved by his Minion friends. But Otto takes the valuable Zodiac Stone and trades it for a Pet Rock.

Gru get kidnapped by Wild Knuckles, because he wants that magical Stone. But since Otto misplaced along the way, Gru does not know how to find it. In Knuckles home in San Francisco, he threatens the Minions that Gru will be pushing up daisies if they don’t bring the Stone. Otto finds a friendly Biker (voiced by RZA) who has the Zodiac Stone and takes him to San Fran. Kevin, Stuart and Bob get to The City by the Bay, but they break almost all the FAA regulations doing so.

Kevin, Stuart and Bob happen to meet a retired Kung Fu master, who now does acupuncture. Master Chow (voiced Michelle Yeoh) is not interested in helping the Minions, but they give her the “Big Eyes” treatment. Pretty soon, the group is ready for a ‘Junior Intro to Judo’ badge – but they take off to fight the Vicious 6 for real, on their own. Master Chow thinks the little goofballs will make a big mistake.

The Vicious 6 are on the prowl for the Zodiac Stone, and they will use it on Chinese New Year. They can get some mysterious powers from the Stone. The nutty Minions are no match for the ‘6’. They have any easy time finding Gru and taking him captive. The Badest of Bads now have the Super Stone, and it can turn them into Super-Duper Super-Villains.  But Gru is on the sidelines, and Wild Knuckles has given up the fight – so it seems. The adorably annoying Minions have some training now to take on the bad guys.

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” is fine film, if you are not looking for perfection. The Minions are goofy, but a constant focus on them can be irritating. So, in this movie – it is wisely broken down between the parts that feature Gru and the parts that feature Minions. The plot is silly and goofy. In typical fashion, it can always try to get laugh with awkward bodily sounds (fart jokes).

Nobody in this movie is destined for an Oscar nomination. But that is the beauty. Where there are expectations that are this low, it does not take much to get a ridiculous bit that can get a belly laugh. There are some primo songs used at just the right time. There are some unexpectedly good jokes and visual gags. Yes, the Minions are adorably annoying. The more the focus is only on them, the annoying meter starts spiking pretty high. But they are able to keep the focus on them light and with some quick pacing, the movie jets along to the next silly/funny/goofy place.

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” – Like they say, I did not quite like the main character at first, but over time – he ‘Gru’ on me…