Review of Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) by Nothecker — 16 Aug 2022

Minions: The Rise of Gru is *ahead* of my expectations, but it didn't *exceeded*. The good parts are the animation, so fresh and clean, the humor, as always funny, and the characters. Unlike the first Minions movie, however, is not that all about those lovable little yellow freaks, it's also about Gru, and the film balances both of their subplots. Talking about subplots, there are 3 on this movie (SPOILERS AHEAD): - The Minions try to learn kung-fu to save Gru.

- Gru bonds with his idol Wild Knuckles when the latter kidnaps him.

- The Vicious 6 (main villains) plot revenge against Gru for stealing the film's MacGuffin: the Zodiac Stone.

The Rise of Gru, as I said, balances those three subplots nicely, and the franchise's new formula seems to always suprise people despite being REALLY obvious: a villain wants to rule the world with a MacGuffin, someone will go missing, and the protagonists set off on a quest to master some kind of art or self-discover their lost past. This movie's action is amazing for an Illumination movie, as well as those references to Despicable Me and the depictions of 70s pop culture. However, like any movie, it has ONE SINGLE thing that is not bad, but could have worked better: The MacGuffin is not as important as it seems; rather, the film focuses on those 3 subplots I mentioned earlier. Final veredict:

Minions: The Rise of Gru might not be at the franchise's top standards, but its fresh animation, humor and generic but well-working plot makes it worth watching.