In the heart of the 1970s, amidst a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru (Steve Carell) is growing up in the suburbs. A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. Luckily, he gets some mayhem-making back-up from his loyal followers, the Minions. Together, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto - a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please - deploy their skills as they and Gru build their f... (Full plot summary below)
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In the heart of the 1970s, amidst a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru (Steve Carell) is growing up in the suburbs. A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. Luckily, he gets some mayhem-making back-up from his loyal followers, the Minions. Together, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto - a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please - deploy their skills as they and Gru build their first lair, experiment with their first weapons, and pull off their first missions. When the Vicious 6 oust their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin), Gru interviews to become their newest member. It doesn't go well (to say the least), and only gets worse after Gru outsmarts them and suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. On the run, Gru will turn to an unlikely source for guidance, Wild Knuckles, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.
Leave your thoughts about Minions: The Rise of Gru.
| ColliderRebecca LandmanThe fast-paced, vaudevillian-style humor keeps us laughing despite the fact that we never really have any clue what any of the Minions themselves are saying. This movie affords itself more surface-level moments with lesser-developed villains because of the relationships we're immediately invested in between Gru and his Minions. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreIt all swirls together in a riot of color, action, deadpan gags and musical and martial arts mayhem, a kids’ movie that rushes by you so fast you won’t want to take a concession stand break. |
| Arizona RepublicAlexis PotterMinions: The Rise of Gru is the perfect movie if you’ve been needing a moment to just laugh, no matter what age you are. Yes, it is an animated film that will appeal to kids for sure, but it's written with adults in mind, too. |
| The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe animation is technically wondrous – the colour and detail amazes, while the Minions themselves have never looked more bouncily robust – but it’s always in service of the overriding slapstick agenda. Even the flat, side-on compositions – less than ideal for showing off graphical prowess – feel like knowing evocations of the deadpan staging of vintage cartoons. |
| Original-CinJohn KirkIt’s the antic humour set against the retro décor that acts as a common meeting ground for youth and adults to enjoy Minions: The Rise of Gru together. It’s funny on both age levels. |
| The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenKids will love all the silliness, but oddly the greatest resonance of the Wayback Machine plot will be felt by the kids’ grandparents (if any find themselves in attendance) who were around in those bygone days. |
| ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOf the five movies in the Despicable Me/Minions cycle, The Rise of Gru is the second-best, following the debut installment. The series has long since given up finding new avenues to explore (the way the first one and, to a degree, the second one, did), relying instead of regurgitating ideas and comedic bits. It’s almost surprising, therefore, how effectively it works. |
| Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattIn a movie that only nominally needs to make sense, those little mango-colored agents of chaos — with their thumb-shaped bodies, jaunty overalls, and inscrutable dialect ("Who are these tiny tater tots and where did they get so much denim?" Gru marvels in his own esoteric accent) — are often the best thing on screen, a loopy confluence of Buster Keaton and Evel Knievel. |
| RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonEven if you can’t stand the Minions (who are once again voiced in “Minionese” by Pierre Coffin), you might find this one tolerable. Especially if you’re old enough to get the 1976 jokes yet feel young enough to find bemusement in all the goofy slapstick. |
| New York PostJohnny OleksinskiWhile a tad too light, as these films often are, nobody is making animated characters as funny or likable (or marketable) as the Minions. |
