Minions: The Rise of Gru, lowers the already low yellow bar

There is a cute, undeniable charm that those yellow Minions have. They’re optimistic and seem like they’d be fun at a party. Minions: The Rise of Gru aims to take that spirit to its second Despicable Me prequel as the yellows and a young Gru come to terms with things in the mid-1970s. There is a lot that’s wrong with The Rise of Gru, however, it’s challenging to fully dislike it because you know exactly what you’re in for, or at least you should be. The Rise of Gru is in your face, pigeon Spanish, Minion-centric, off-key singing yellow happiness for 90 minutes. If you’re seven through 10 this will be your jam. If you’re older than that, then you’ve drawn the short straw and were tasked with seeing the film with the kids.

There’s a reason why Urkel, as a television character, never had his own show. If a major component of your entertainment vehicle straddles the line as precariously as the ripeness of an avocado, then proceed with caution. The Rise of Gru has many of the elements that made the first four films that starred Minions entertaining, although on a sliding scale from most to least. In this film, it brings in those things, adds some cool villains and a nice soundtrack (although most of the songs were covers, even if they were well done), but scuttles the ship when it adds in too many baby Muppets.

Baby Muppets is a personal thing that I refer to when intellectual property has run out of gas by taking the main characters and simply imagining them as children. In 2015’s Minion, as that film was ending, audiences met Gru, as a child. The Minions and Gru would seemingly go on to have a beautiful partnership as that film’s credits started to roll.

The Rise of Gru takes that ending and makes Steve Carrel’s voice higher because his character is now a child, then amps up the silly. Minions was silly when compared to the three Despicable Me movies. Minions: The Rise of Gru is lobotomized when compared to Minions. The Rise of Gru was originally supposed to be released in the summer of 2020, ie, the summer of Covid. The ensuing two years haven’t made the jokes in the film age poorly. If anything it’s just made the tolerance level of some audience members less patient and forgiving of films that waste their time.

The plot to The Rise of Gru centers on a group of super villains and their quest for a mysterious jeweled necklace. When this group has an opening for a villain they ask Gru to apply but are aghast when they realize that he’s just a kid. Gru decides to impress them by stealing said object, which is then complicated by a minion or two.

The good news is that the film is loaded to the gills with fast-moving yellow action sequences, set against songs from the 1970s.

The bad news is that the film is loaded to the gills with fast-moving yellow action sequences, set against cover songs from the 1970s.

Again, you know what you’re getting when you pay to see this film. It will either entertain you or it won’t, and you’ve got a gut feeling as to which camp you are in now. It won’t surprise you and is not in the business of offering up something new to people looking to blaze humor or animation trails.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is a reminder to audiences who’ve become used to being entertained by animated features that sometimes those movies are just there to be fun for the kids. The fact that a film has its key target as stoners or elementary school-aged kids seven to 10 years old is simply the way they want to do things. That first key demographic was new to me after speaking with a college student who was really into Minions, I put two pineapple things together and figured it out. The Rise of Gru will keep those two groups entertained, while those not in their league would’ve wished that they’d taken the red pill.

Minions is rated PG for action sequences that involve yellow oval blobs and other animated characters.