It will come as no surprise that I went to see Minions: The Rise of Gru after watching the first Minions movie the other day. I mean, why else would I watch it? It certainly wasn’t because of all those fucking weirdos in suits who were going to see it, but rather that I’d heard this sequel was actually pretty great.
Rise of Gru still occurs in that prequel era of Despicable Me, and presumably directly after the events of the first Minions film. Unsurprisingly, this one revolves more around Gru himself (voiced by the super talented Steve Carell) and how he became to be so despicable. As a kid, we see him vying to join a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, but things end up being far less straightforward than he had planned when he realises he must defeat them himself.
Isn’t it funny how simply adding Steve Carell’s voice to a movie makes it 10 times better? Don’t misunderstand me here, this is no masterpiece, but the mere scent of Carell’s pipes made this one a hell of a lot more watchable.
Funny, coherent and entertaining, The Rise of Gru is no doubt the superior Minions film. With Minions, it was really difficult to find any of the ridiculousness truly funny. With the sequel, there are so many slapstick gags and pop culture references that it’s difficult not to laugh, so that was refreshing. Refreshing when it comes to the Despicable-verse, anyway.
Another improvement made here is that of the plot: this time round, there’s more of a well-rounded story that actually makes sense, perhaps because Brian Lynch had some help with writing this one. Either way, that is one rich dude (this movie alone has already made over $850 million at the box office at the time of writing). Sadly it all loses a little bit of steam in between the second and third acts, but thankfully this movie is so short that I didn’t physically have the time to fall asleep. Plus it helped that it was set in the seventies and once again has a BANGING SOUNDTRACK.
Already mentioned is the fact that Carell’s presence alone gives this instalment more pizzazz than the first, and the supporting cast only adds to that. Not only does Taraji P. Henson make an appearance, but Michelle Yeoh?! Why is she so good at everything? She’s genuinely one of the best people on the planet, isn’t she? Okay, I’ll stop.
So The Rise of Gru isn’t going to be making any “Top 100 Films of All Time” lists, but aside from Turning Red, it’s perhaps the best animated film of the year so far.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is still currently screening in UK cinemas and is now available to rent on Sky Store Premiere for £15.99.
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Overall Enjoyability Rating: ½
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