I’M gonna be honest, I have never seen a single movie or even a single frame in the reportedly massively successful and popular Despicable Me franchise, which according to Wikipedia is the highest-grossing animated film franchise of all time.
As someone who was alive for the last decade, I am quite aware of Minions due to their incessant ubiquity, though I have never been curious enough to see them in action in movies that have probably entertained a generation. I do not know what they are and where they come from, besides their seemingly unbreakable bond with Gru (Steve Carell, keep cashing those cheques).
Coming out of a screening of Minions: The Rise of Gru (which was originally scheduled for release in 2020, but was held back because of the pandemic), my understanding of the Minions is unchanged.
Obviously by being cute and speaking a gibberish language, these yellow prehistoric creatures from Switzerland (this is from Wikipedia) are money in the bank when it comes to selling toys and being mascots around the world.
Anyway, in Minions: The Rise of Gru, it’s the 1970s which means the movie hits a whole host of tropes and ideas that were popular then and can be easily exaggerated for comedic effect in a cartoon action-comedy. There’s afro’d African American characters out of blaxploitation films, kung fu fighting (featuring Michelle Yeoh as a martial arts master, of course), and plenty of era-appropriate music.
It’s all fun spotting the references, especially when Minions (all voiced by Pierre Coffin) are singing classic songs like The Sound of Silence in their nonsense gibberish language. But then the question is: are kids, the movie’s target audience, going to understand all these callbacks to a time before they were born (maybe even before their parents were born?)
What am I saying, Minions: The Rise of Gru is probably gonna make a billion dollars and another billion selling toys.
Oh yeah, the ‘plot’: An almost 12-year-old Gru is a fanboy of this famous supervillain group, the Vicious 6. Even at a young age, he wants to be a bad guy – with a heart of gold, because the hero in a kids' movie can’t be too evil. After they unceremoniously knock off their leader Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin), they have tryouts for new members.
Gru fails his test and has to go on the run with his Minions, embarking on a trip through the US that ends up in San Francisco on Chinese New Year. Eventually, he ‘teams up’ with Wild Knuckles “and soon discovers that even bad guys need a little help from their friends” (how wholesome).
Anyway, if you’re a fan of the other four movies in this franchise, there are probably plenty of callbacks and references to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. There are also the obligatory wacky gadgets, super criminal hijinks, cute Minion stuff (especially when they transform into animals) and other visual gags.
The whole thing is over in less than 90 minutes so at least it doesn’t overstay its welcome. – The Vibes, June 30, 2022
