Minions: The Rise of Gru

The first movie of the Despicable Me franchise since 2015's fun if forgettable Minions, the series continues with Minions: The Rise of Gru as 11 year-old Gru (Steve Carell) attempts to prove himself as a super-villain to his idols the Vicious 6 (voiced by Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, and Lucy Lawless). More entertaining than Minions, but still packing plenty of wacky problems for both Gru and the small yellow henchmen to get into, Minions: The Rise of Gru is a pleasant surprise that made me laugh and kept me entertained throughout.

The film gets off to a bit of a rocky start introducing six new characters mid-heist in under a minute, setting the stage for Gru's audition as a new member and the fallout of him attempting to prove himself, but once Gru and the Minions hit the screen the movie finds its stride in a tale that refuses to overstay its welcome and clocks in under 90 minutes.

Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto (all voiced by Pierre Coffin) get the most screentime of the lovable Minions with three of them setting off to save Gru while Otto is left on his own cross-country adventure after misplacing the treasure all the villains of the film are hunting for. Minions: The Rise of Gru isn't great cinema, but it's darn good summer entertainment that feels far less like a cash grab than the less-focused Minions. The animation is great, and there is a bit of old school Warner Bros. cartoon wackiness on display as the Minions (and others) are put through various dangerous situations. And there's plenty of laughs here, for both kids and adults, with a few nods to the later films as well. I'm actually looking forward to seeing this plotline continue. 

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• Title: Minions: The Rise of Gru
• IMDb: link