Minions: The Rise of Gru – Film Review
Following on from the success of their 2015 prequel spin-off Minions, the little yellow fellas are back for more silliness and mayhem in Minions: The Rise of Gru.
At the end of the previous film, the minions encounter a young Gru (voiced Steve Carell) and decide he should their new master. Cut to a few years later – we’re now in the ’70s – and Kevin, Stuart, Bob and Otto are the devoted helpers of the 12-year-old wannabe villain. When Gru learns that Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin) has been ousted as the leader of the Vicious 6 supervillain group and replaced by Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), he has an interview to become their newest member. When they turn him down, he steals a precious powerful stone and has to go on the run to evade them.
This animated sequel is just as much fun as the previous Minions outing plus the three Despicable Me movies before that. It has a very silly sense of humour and it made me laugh loads. The children in my screening also laughed out loud constantly so it’s fair to say the film will entertain both kids and adults alike. There is plenty of action, adventure, comedy hijinks and a stellar ’70s soundtrack and this helps make up for the so-so plot.
Illumination landed on an absolute goldmine when they created the minions. There is a reason why these silly little creatures are so popular – they’re just so much fun to watch! Even though you can’t understand much of what they’re saying, you can grasp the intention enough to follow their discussions, mostly thanks to their hilarious facial expressions and Pierre Coffin‘s fantastic vocal work. Plus, they offer so much slapstick comedy as they are always doing things wrong but they also have a heart of gold and can be quite adorable, especially with their big puppy-dog eyes.
I really appreciated that Illumination got actors known for their action roles to round out the Vicious 6 – Jean-Claude Van Damme voices Jean-Clawed, Dolph Lundgren is Svengeance, Danny Trejo voices Stronghold and Lucy Lawless is Nunchuck (the best one of the bunch). Henson doesn’t really fit in with that casting but she basically channels Beyoncé in Austin Powers, to great effect, and Arkin works well as the old man put out to pasture. Action hero Michelle Yeoh also pops up as the minions’ martial arts teacher.
You will probably be dragged by your children to see Minions: The Rise of Gru at the cinema this weekend – but never fear, you’ll have a great time too! Plus it’s only 88 minutes so it’ll be over before you know it.
In cinemas from Friday 1st July