Minions: The Rise of Gru
universal picturesThroughout the history of mankind, there are specific moments that forever change the zeitgeist and truly become defining moments in human existence. One of these key moments was the release of the original animated feature Despicable Me in 2010. Unknowingly, what was supposed to be an innocent animated feature ended up releasing the Minions onto the world, which, over a decade later, is still an event touching both the facebook pages of mothers and the box office. Whether one loves or hates the yellow creatures, one cannot take away the popularity they have gained to this day with the long-awaited release of Minions: The Rise of Gru. Serving both as a sequel to the 2015 spinoff Minions and as a prequel to the Despicable Me franchise, Minions: The Rise of Gru follows a young Gru (Steve Carell) on one of his earliest adventures with the Minions as they run from the Vicious 6 while trying to keep a hold on the mysterious and powerful stone.
It should come as no surprise that when it comes to comedy, Minions: The Rise of Gru sees hardly any evolution or revolution from previous Minions outings. The physical comedy still is able to garner an occasional laugh, while the crafted blend of cuteness and quirkiness that has made the individual Minions become almost iconic still has its charm. In a vacuum, Kevin, Stuart and Bob all still have their moments and this formula, while predictable, still works overall. Sadly when one looks past the actual Minions themselves, Minions: The Rise of Gru really starts to fall apart.
While 2015's Minions is far from deep, the plot at least made the most of a weaker concept with fun characters and overall strong use of the period piece setting. Minions: The Rise of Gru, on the other hand, fails tremendously with this. The plot is not only predictable but is simply boring with most children's content being able to create something more captivating than this. The villains are all bland with a shockingly deep cast delivering very little of worth or substance unlike that found in the Sing franchise for example. It is clear that these elements are weak due to the film's simple lack of care. This is not an inspired outing that is going to become something more than the franchise it belongs to, it is a cheap effort to get basic Minions content in the market for financial gain. There is no soul or heart found here which is simply disappointing in the current animation market.
As mentioned, the voice cast is overall forgettable, yet there is one voice that stands out for all the wrong reasons: Steve Carell. Beyond the Minions themselves, one of the clear highlights of the Despicable Me franchise has been Carell, who has crafted yet another iconic persona for himself. The Gru voice is iconic and normally is quite entertaining, but here there is a clear miscalculation. With Gru being 11, to hear Carell try to awkwardly adapt yet never really commit to changing his performance as the character comes off as awkward and clunky. The character animation does him no favors, as there is a clear lack of expression and physical connection to the performance taking place. The animation, as a whole, really fails to impress with it being yet another area where it feels like the film is operating on autopilot.
While it might be hard to call Minions: The Rise of Gru a disappointment due to the lack of expectations in the first place, even for the yellow creatures there is something especially poor about this effort. Not just completely forgettable but also completely hollow, the normal foundational charm of an animated feature feels like it is entirely lacking. At the end of the day, there is nothing in this 88-minute feature that warrants a recommendation even for those with small children.
