Minions: The Rise of Gru Review: An action-packed story of origin
What does it take to become a world-renowned supervillain? Minions: The Rise of Gru, Illumination’s latest episode in Despicable Me franchise out this Friday, explores this issue and more while tracing the origin story of everyone’s favorite power-hungry supervillain, Gru (Steve Carell). Set in the 1970s, Minions: The Rise of Gru places in the middle Minions and Despicable Me timeline. Minions, including Kevin, Stuart, Bob and a new harness-clad Minion named Otto (Pierre coffin) has just responded to Gravel’s call and is now helping their mini-boss build his first basement hole, design his first set of superweapons, and execute his very first super scheme. Gru, however, he is ready for the big time. He’s ready to join Vicious 6, a notorious supervillain supergroup, and he’s pretty sure it’s a leap he’s going to take on his own – without the Minions’ help.
Meanwhile, Vicious 6 has deposed their leader, Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin) and hosts interviews to fill his place. While they initially send out an interview invitation to Gru, the group is not impressed when this 11-year-old boy shows up. They do not need any children to bring! But just as this infamous team underestimates Gru, he outwits them and sets the film’s non-stop action-rave adventure in motion. Gru is on the run, Minions must learn Kung-Fu to save him, and it is not long before Gru realizes that even the most despicable villains are better off with friends by their side.
Starts with the original Despicable Me, this franchise has always taken its strongest step when pairing the wild action sequences and insanely creative weapons of villain-ravers with tender moments of empathic connection. One of the most powerful aspects of Grus’ character from the start has been the fact that his cold, power-hungry heart thaws for the people who matter most. Whether it’s his possible adoptive daughters, his faithful subjects or other villains struggling with loneliness and insecurity, Grus’ superpower has always been the connection – proving that he deserves the love that his mother never seemed interested in showing him. . Here, in his story of origin, we get to see this essential core of his character in full screen in a way that is in line with where we know that his story will eventually lead to the 2010s. Despicable Me.
This film places Gru as a naive, impressionable, yet wise-beyond-his-years boy in his heart, but the film’s lifeblood is a funny, fast-paced, abundance of vicious vendettas. Instead of focusing too long on one story, the original traps Minions The film apparently fell victim to, this robbery bonanza changes from story to story faster than a bunch of slap-a-mole. This hectic energy keeps the momentum at top speed, constantly leaving us on the edge of our seats, wondering when each of these villains, all chasing each other to varying degrees, all desperate to reach their different goals, will collide, and which chaos will then follow.
While we get to spend plenty of time in this fun summer sequel with all the characters we already know and love, Minions: The Rise of Gru also introduces exciting new cast. Alone in Vicious 6, we have Jean Clawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme) armed with a huge robot claw, Nunchuck (Lucy Lawless), who keeps her deadly nun-chucks hidden during her seemingly pious performance, Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren) a Swedish roller skating agent of death, Stronghold (Danny Trejo), who have big hands ready to fight, and their manic leader Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson) death set on proving that her crew is NOT to be messed with – especially by some young punks. And outside of this crew is Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh) a wildly talented Kung Fu master who spends his days treating patients like acupuncturists. Minions turn to her in their distress, and the lessons she gives do not disappoint. All of these fun new characters are wonderfully inventive, and if anything, we don’t get to spend long enough with them.
But that’s part of the fun of these Minions movie. The fast-paced, vaudeville humor makes us laugh despite the fact that we never really have any idea what any of the Minions themselves are saying. This film lends itself several moments at the surface level with less developed villains due to the relationship we are immediately invested in between Gru and his subjects. Gru believes that he has grown out of these Minions – starters who constantly make his life far more complicated than it should ever be in the first place. But Gravel’s frustration with his subjects is the frustration of teamwork, the frustration of collaborating with people who don’t necessarily blindly follow your will despite singing their blind devotion to their mini-boss over and over and over again. Seeing Gru and Minions’ relationship deepened during this film is a deep study of what you do or do not have to sacrifice to reach higher heights and achieve ambitious success.
Why are these children’s films about world-dominant villains so funny? For at their core, they are not about evil at all. Minions: The Rise of Gru, like the other Despicable Me film, uses the figure of villain to explore how broken people turn to ambition and validation to compensate for all the love that is missing in their lives. While we may not all be able to relate to or approve of a little boy cheesy innocent spectators or fart bombs an entire cinema, we can instantly feel compassion for the same little boy’s desperate search for validation. Gru wants more than anything else to join a group. To be wanted. And even though his sweet Minions have already adopted him as their fearless leader, he wants more. He wants better. More prestige. Throughout this film, it is the exploration of the desperate search for connection and validation that permeates a silly animated film about evil supervillains full of heart. At the end of the day, we see that even the most evil supervillains benefit from a little cooperation and camaraderie. Minions: The Rise of Gru proves that even the worst of the worst, as it turns out, do better with a little help from their friends.
Evaluation: ONE-
Catch Minions: The Rise of Gru in the cinema on Friday, July 1, 2022.