By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” marks the 5th animated film of the highly successful “Despicable Me” franchise, but only the 2nd “Minions” movie. Yes, those cute yellow fellows sporting their goggles and blue suspenders are back and are as entertaining as ever.
The timeline for this movie is set in 1976, still well before the “Despicable Me” trilogy. While the first “Minions” took audiences through the origin story of Kevin, Stuart, Bob and all the rest from prehistoric times to 1960s New York, this story shows their first villainous missions with a young Gru (Steve Carell) as their boss.
Gru idolizes the supervillain team called the Vicious 6, so when that evil crew oust their leader, Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin), young Gru jumps at the opportunity to fill the vacancy. As fans of the franchise know all too well, things don’t go according to plan for Gru. The Vicious 6 not only reject him as a possible member, but they also quickly become his enemy when they realize Gru has stolen the magically powerful stone that they had just stolen themselves. Hijinks and calamity ensue as Gru and his new team of minions try to escape the mess they created.
The biggest caper of this film is actually how Universal stole the box office crown from Disney for animated films. “Minions: Rise of Gru” has earned around $800 million worldwide, almost $600 million more than the disappointing Disney Pixar’s “Lightyear”. In fact, Universal owns the top 2 spots so far this year with “The Bad Guys” coming in 2nd. There’s not much hope on the horizon for the reeling Disney even though they have “Strange World” releasing for Thanksgiving, because Universal has the new “Puss in Boots” movie (part of the popular “Shrek” franchise) coming out for Christmas to deal the knockout blow. With interest and quality also waning in the Marvel and Star Wars franchises, it will be interesting to see how Disney responds.
“The Rise of Gru” touches all the right nerves, expertly combining comedy, character development, and adventure with just the right amount of nostalgia to deliver a rewarding movie-going experience. Fans of the franchise will be rewarded with Easter eggs strewn throughout that reference the first “Despicable Me” movie. Overall, it’s fun for the whole family and is the best animated film out there currently.
This movie earns:
