Minions (2): The Rise of Gru (Blu-ray) – Movie Review

It’s already been more than a decade ago since the world was introduced to the villainy behavior of Gru in Despicable Me. The supervillain won over the hearts of many when he himself showed love and compassion to three orphaned girls. It wasn’t only Gru and the girls who received their time in the limelight, however, but also the babbling yellow Minions, who were constantly up to no good. The second Minions movie has now been released on DVD and Blu-ray, and we were given a review copy. While these little henchmen certainly proved to be invaluable for the story, we felt like this movie was still completely centered around Gru.

For Minions 2 we are taken back to the late 70s. After a member of the supervillain organization ‘The Vicious 6’ gets forcefully removed, Gru (Steve Carell) gets an invitation to apply for the current opening. The current five members of the group laugh at the sight of Gru, and they tell him he should just stick with going to school. Gru does not take these insults lightly and decides to steal the immensely powerful Zodiac Stone from under their noses. Gru believes by doing so he can prove himself to be a supervillain worthy of being recruited. Sadly, not only does it put him on the radar of the highest ranking supervillains, but he is now also being targetted by the founder and shunned member of The Vicious 6, Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin). Things get even more chaotic when one of the Minions decides to trade the Zodiac Stone for a pet rock with googly eyes.

The movie’s flow and pacing follow the standard formula of animated films. You’ll get a proper introduction, and then Gru will have to prove himself, while also learning valuable lessons in the process. The movie holds hardly any surprises and is a typical feel-good experience. The humor wasn’t always on point, but the film did have a lot of adult references which are fun to spot if you’re watching Minions 2 with your kids. The movie didn’t overstay its welcome in terms of duration, but we found the story to be quite shallow compared to the mainline films. Of course, the Despicable Me movies aren’t very deep experiences either, but we felt they had more substance.

An impressive cast is backing this second Minions movie, and it’s easy to say that the voice acting is superbly handled. On top of the iconic portrayal of Gru by Steve Carell, you’ll get performances by Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Danny Trejo, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, who all play memorable villains. Other supporting roles are also handled by acting veterans, such as Julie Andrew and Michelle Yeoh. There isn’t a single performance that feels phoned in, and you’ll be treated to sublime performances from start to finish.

The Blu-ray version of Minions 2 comes with a hefty load of extras. You’ll get to view two short Minions-infused stories, but also a lot of making-of content, and many other special features. As this is a children’s movie, you’ll also have several special features revolving around making your own Minions lair, some outfits, etc. As a whole, the extras truly raise the value of this physical edition, and it will keep the kids entertained for a while after the movie’s credits roll.

Conclusion

Fans of the Minions will probably enjoy this movie, but all in all, it was a bit of a by-the-numbers animated film that holds little surprises. The story will certainly please a lot of younger viewers, and many adult references will make sure parents can also get a few chuckles out of this one, but other than that, we feel like the hype has died down too much to make this a very relevant release. Nonetheless, as far as animated films go, this one’s pretty decent.

Ibuki

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Aspiring ninja.

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