Minions: The Rise of Gru

Gru may only be twelve years old. But he already knows what he wants to be when he grows up: a supervillain! His misdeeds are modeled on the Fearsome 6, a gang of the most ruthless and vile criminals imaginable. When he actually does receive an invitation from this gang to apply to become a new member, he can hardly believe his luck. Highly motivated, he sets off on a long journey to finally fulfill his purpose. Once there, however, he finds that his future is not nearly as bleak as he had imagined. His great heart’s desire threatens to burst. When he then takes the initiative, things only seem to get worse – something his clingy minions are partly to blame for…

Even though this year has produced many a super hit, some titles have fared much better than even the biggest optimists would have imagined, one area has so far been completely disappointing commercially: that of animated films. Of course, this also had to do with the sparse releases, both Hotel Transylvania 4 – A Monster Metamorphosis and Rot ended up directly on streaming services, although both studios were always good for a hit. Lightyear, on the other hand, went down surprisingly well at the box office. So now it’s up to the Minions to do it again. A look at their filmography actually makes one expect great things: The three parts of Despicable Me together grossed more than $2.5 billion. The first solo film brought it to 1.1 billion in 2015.

However, a few years have passed since then. Were the little yellow helpers ever-present since their debut in 2010, a real phenomenon, some will ask themselves in 2022: really, do they still exist? Minions: The Rise of Gru, the troupe’s second solo film, sticks closely to the success story. In a way, he’s doing it even more now that he’s also starring as the main series’ protagonist, Gru, so there’s some debate as to whether this is still a solo film at all or is it just a pure prequel to Despicable Me. Of course, you have to do without the children who became Gru’s family. He’s still a kid here himself. Instead, as in the first main film at the time, it’s about his wanting to be a master criminal. You have to dream of something.

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” has an attractive 70s setting and is also convincing in the passages about the crazy criminal underworld. When it comes to humor, however, so much remains the same that signs of fatigue inevitably appear.

• Minions: The Rise of Gru