Currently 70% on Rotten Tomatoes

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/min...he_rise_of_gru



Surprised there was no thread for this. This opens today. I plan to see a matinee this afternoon. I always get some chuckles out of these movies.

and in case you weren't already aware, this is a prequel to the Minions movie.

and this made about $10.8M last night

https://deadline.com/2022/07/minions...ce-1235055270/

Actually I think it's a sequel to Minions and a prequel to the three Despicable Me movies.

My favorite current music producer, Jack Antinoff did the soundtrack with contemporary artists doing covers of 70s songs

I just got back from matinee. Audience was mostly kids and their families. It had some moments that made me chuckle, but I overall I thought it was just okay. It’s bright and beautiful looking on a Dolby Cinema. But the story was kinda meh. Carell voicing an 11 year old Gru didn’t really work for me. He was pretty annoying.

For the average Joe in this forum who has no kids, I don’t think I can really recommend this movie. You’ll probably think it’s annoying and insufferable. But if you have small kids and want to take them for an afternoon matinee, I think they will get some entertainment out of it. I would only recommend this if you’re a big fan of the Despicable Me and Minions series. Obviously if you don’t watch them, then you ain’t watching this one.

My grade C

https://deadline.com/2022/07/minions...ce-1235055270/

This is estimated to make over $129M over the 4 day weekend

and will make $200M plus worldwide

https://deadline.com/2022/07/minions...ds-1235055304/

I thought the movie was just so so at best, but Geez this franchise is still a huge money maker. Those annoying Minions won't be going away anytime soon.

^^^ That new version of Funkytown is terrible. Just ear-piercingly brutal.

From my review page ORBI-WAN GOES TO THE MOVIES:

It's been a while, but I am back!

Minions: The Rise of Gru (PG) - Pre-teen Gru and his Minion crew are back with more fun than ever in the second chapter of Gru's "origin" story, set firmly in the age of disco.

As we all know, Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell) starts off as a grown adult super-villain who turns out to have a tender heart, adopts three young girls, renounces his super-villainy, becomes an agent for the good guys and marries one of his coworkers. This is covered in the first three Despicable Me movies, and I am guessing we are likely to see more of those in the future.

The first Minions movie focused on a tribe of little yellow beings whose entire purpose in life is to help and serve others, but get it in their heads that they can only accomplish this by working for the “bad guys.” By the end of that movie, they choose to become the “henchmen” for a young Gru, whose life ambition is to become a super-villain.

In “Minions: The Rise of Gru”, set in 1976, the focus shifts primarily to Gru and four of his top minions - Bob, Kevin, Stuart and Otto. However, the movie starts with a “heist” by super-villain group the Vicious Six, led by Wild Knuckles (Alan Atkin), as they steal a valuable and magical Chinese artifact. That team, Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), Jean-Clawed (Jean Claude Van Damme), Svengence (Dolph Lundgren), Nun-Chuck (Lucy Lawless), and Stronghold (Danny Trejo), betray Wild Knuckles, and Belle declares herself the new leader of the Vicious Six, er, now Five.

Being short a “bad guy”, they put out a call for a replacement for Wild Knuckles. Of course, 12-year-old Gru idolizes the Vicious Six, especially Wild Knuckles, but is ridiculed by the five adult villains during the interview process as he is only a kid. The clumsiness of another candidate distracts the remaining Five villains, and Gru uses the distraction to steal the Chinese artifact from them. His plan - to eventually return the artifact to the adult villains so they can see how cunning and “evil” he is.

Things don’t go well with that plan. The Vicious gang chase Gru and his handful of Minions to recover the artifact, but Otto carelessly trades it for a pet rock. Also, Gru gets to meet and team up with his true hero, who is no longer with the Vicious gang, while Otto does his best to recover the artifact he traded away. And the other three Minions end up under the tutelage of Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh), whom they convince to teach the yellow fellows the art of Kung Fu after they lose a fight to superior forces.

Stopping there, but suffice it to say, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” gives us exactly what we want to see in a Minion/Gru movie. It has laughs, plenty of sight gags, a LOT of action and, being set in the mid/late 1970s, plenty of Easter eggs for older Minion fans to discover and chuckle over. Also, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” has a killer soundtrack featuring songs from that era, some covers and some by original artists. This old Jedi absolutely enjoyed the combination of laughs, action and nostalgia felt during this highly entertaining animated outing. That’s why I am giving “Minions: The Rise of Gru” my highest rating, 5 out of 5 lightsabers. I am so looking forward to the next installment, which I hope covers the adventures of a teenaged Gru and his band of yellow Minions.

NOTES FOR PARENTS (MINOR SPOILERS): "Minions: The Rise of Gru" is rated PG for cartoon violence and rude humor including fart weapons, fart sounds and yellow butts. Language is limited to a couple of “hecks”. A character supposedly falls to their death early in the film but turns up later. Henchmen beat on some Minions (mainly off-screen) before someone comes to their rescue and whoops up on the henchmen. Plenty more slapstick style violence as three of the primary Minions undergo Kung Fu training with Master Chow. Gru, Wild Knuckles and the Minions must take on the Vicious Six (5 actually) after they turn themselves into giant versions of Chinese Zodiac animals. In one scene at a Tupperware party, a Minion is seen using two green tennis balls to simulate cleavage, but they keep falling out of his dress.

MID- AND AFTER-CREDIT SCENES: Mid-credit: Gru and his army of Minions convince a reluctant inventor to join them for their upcoming adventures. During the credits, we are treated to multiple vignettes featuring Gru and the Minions. There are no after-credit scenes

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My friends' six year old was talking about how much he wanted to go see this movie in the theater, but they are not taking him cuz neither parent wants to be forced to watch it.

Took the kids this morning. This was okay. They liked it a lot. We just watched the first Minions last week and I enjoyed that more. The animation here was perhaps the best - colors just popped - and the 1960s/1970s music was well-used, too. My ranking:
1. Despicable Me
2. Despicable Me 2
3. Minions
4. Minions 2: The Rise of Gru
5. Despicable Me 3

This is now up on Peacock. But, keep in mind, this is really designed for kids. If you aren't a fan of these movies, I wouldn't bother.