Minions: The Rise of Gru

It turns out that a Despicable Me 4 is in the works for a 2024. But for now, you can satisfy your Minion-need with the long-awaited and delayed prequel sequel, Minions: The Rise of Gru. Let's see how it is.

In 1976, Gru (Steve Carell) is the "mini-boss" of the Minions (all Pierre Coffin), whose rank-and-file include Kevin, Stuart, Bob and Otto. Gru tries to join the Vicious Six, who recently deposed their founder Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin) during their last heist. He doesn't impress them, so he steals their new MacGuffin, a Zodiac Stone. The Vicious Six Minus One go after him.

Wild Knuckles returns and nabs Gru for the Stone. But Otto traded it for a Pet Rock. So, he, Kevin, Stuart and Bob set off to San Francisco to save Gru. Meanwhile, Gru wins over Wild Knuckles, who makes him his evil apprentice. The Minions, Knuckles and Gru confront the Vicious Five in Chinatown during the Chinese New Year celebrations.

A lot of its jokes have been trailered for months, even years. But the end result has quite a few surprises. One of the biggest is that the puntacular Jean-Clawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme), Strongarm (Danny Trejo), Nun-Chuck (Lucy Lawless) and Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren) fill up the Vicious not Six. Their ringleader is Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), who's as despicable as this film allows. It's such a silly film that anyone will recognize that a seemingly dead character is not. Their "funeral" scene almost makes one feel it.

Also in the picture is Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh), who trains Kevin, Stuart and Bob in Kung-Fu. Her segment has some zany action which pays off in the final battle in Chinatown. Otto's crosscountry trek to San Francisco on a tricycle is also worth a few laughs. We see how Gru hired the Minions with a spectacular bait-and-switch. Overall, the Minions haven't changed much since the first Despicable Me. They still find ways to surprise us.

It's got the same technical flair as its predecessors. San Francisco is alluring and the Vicious really Five have appealingly wacky designs. There's plenty of delightful gadgets and action scenes to entertain throughout its 88-minute runtime. Its soundtrack is once again filled with Heitor Pereria's score and some old standards. A downside is that there's not enough Minion musical moments.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is sure to make a despicably fun matinee. It's a simple story that'll entertain kids and amuse many an adult. I've had some fun with it; it helps there's quite a bit I forgot about its first trailer from 2020. Its denouement is rather nice. It's not the most profound animated film ever, but I think some cinematic amusement is always welcome. See it and you might agree.

Or not.