“Minions: The Rise of Gru” more aptly might be named “Minions: The Education of Gru” as it involves the younger, middle-school version of the wannabe villain learning valuable lessons. The superb animation is complemented by a fabulous soundtrack featuring music from the movie’s 1976 setting. The Minions are as cute, outlandish, and mischievous as they ever were.

The film begins with a car chase as Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson) eludes the police before sneaking into a secret entryway at Criminal Records. She is a member of the Vicious 6, led by Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin). The other villains are Jean-Clawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme), Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren), Stronghold (Danny Trejo), and Nun-Chuck (Lucy Lawless).

Using Belle’s stolen map, the sextet travel to a remote location to obtain the Zodiac Stone, which will make them all powerful at midnight on the Chinese New Year. Wild Knuckles undergoes a series of Indiana-Jones-style adventures to obtain the Stone. As he is hanging from a rope, the other five baddies cut it and abandon the older Wild Knuckles to his fate.

Gru (Steve Carell) is sitting in his class on Career Day. As other students are called on and state typical aspirations, Gru announces that he wants to be a super villain. He is mocked by the other students.

After class, he meets with Minions Kevin, Stuart and Bob (all Minions voiced by Pierre Coffin). They head off on his super-charged bike. At home they descend to the basement lab where all the other Minions are.

Gru is thrilled because he has received an invitation to interview to join the Vicious 6. He announces that he will go by himself as he starts to assert his own identity.

Arriving at Criminal Records, Gru is introduced to Nefario (Russell Brand) who gives him a goo gun that can grasp objects from a distance. After playing a Linda Ronstadt record of “You’re no good” backwards in a listening booth, he descends to a waiting room where all the other candidates for the Vicious 6 are waiting.

When Gru is summoned for his interview, he is mocked for his youth as he was assumed to be an adult. But circumstances conspire to allow Gru to steal the Zodiac Stone and the chase is on.
Unbeknowst to Gru, the main 3 Minions and another one, the garrulous Otto, have followed him. Gru gives the Stone to Otto. Later Otto sees a birthday party where a girl is gifted a pet rock. Otto falls in love with it and trades the Stone for the rock.

Gru is furious when he finds out and fires the Minions. Soon thereafter Gru is kidnapped by Wild Knuckles’ (who survived his fall) gang & taken to San Francisco. Kevin, Stuart and Bob pose as airplane pilots and a stewardess as they essentially hijack a plane to the same destination. Otto, embarrassed by his mistake, gets on a big wheel and starts peddling toward the Bay Area. Their three divergent stories eventually will merge.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the picture set in the bicentennial year, 1976. The animators do a wonderful job portraying the “hippie-ness” of the era with colorful motifs and costumes. The Criminal Records store gave me flashbacks of going to places like Tower Records to browse the albums. The music was a trip and period songs were beautifully employed at just the right times.

But non-seventies elements also are given superb treatment by the visual team. The Chinese New Year’s celebration is truly a festival of lights. Wild Knuckles’ house is a hoot of construction and a final funeral scene is splendidly rendered. I similarly loved the temple setting of the Zodiac stone. Sometimes the film seems almost 3D in quality.

The division of the story into 3 parts made me wonder if this would end up being confusing. Yet each of the stories has its own adventures and excitement. I do have to wonder if I wasn’t being engaged by the occasional 70’s references, but the picture moves at such a fast pace that there is never time to be bored.

While Kevin, Bob and Stuart are in Chinatown, they meet Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh), an acupuncturist who teaches (or tries to teach) them Kung Fu. I was a little concerned that this character might degenerate into racist stereotypes but this is not the case.

I was a little disappointed that we did not get to see more of the Vicious 5 after Wild Knuckles was kicked out. I particularly enjoyed seeing Nun-Chuk’s religious variations on weaponry. Their stories would make a good movie in and of themselves.

The “Despicable Me” franchise always has been different in having characters who are villains but who end up as heroes or softies who adopt children. The evil usually is thwarted and channeled into something positive.

There are some set pieces before the main action starts where we see Gru and some of the Minions engaging in what would be considered mischief or petty crime, but not true evilness. They cut in line, take things without paying for them, use a stink bomb to clear a theater that is sold out for “Jaws,” and the like. These behaviors may require discussion between parents and children.

On the other hand, themes such as friendship, ageism, individual worth and loyalty run throughout the film. Dealing with setbacks and self-doubt also receive treatment in the screenplay. The plot provides many positive talking points for further family discussion.

In this installment, the violence is indeed “cartoon” & employs the toon world’s sense of the suspension of normal laws of physics and physiology. Much of the action evokes the Three Stooges in its physicality. There are some scare sequences where menacing characters or animals appear that might be intense for some younger viewers.

This is an imaginative, beautifully animated fun adventure story. The period references will engage older parents or grandparents who lived during the 1970’s.

The movie is rated PG. I think that young children might be bored by the plot intricacies or scared by the more intense fight scenes but not by the slapstick action.

Four out of five stars

Long before he becomes the master of evil, Gru (Oscar® nominee Steve Carell) is just a 12-year-old boy in 1970s suburbia, plotting to take over the world from his basement.

It’s not going particularly well. When Gru crosses paths with the Minions, including Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto—a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please—this unexpected family joins forces. Together, they build their first lair, design their first weapons, and strive to execute their first missions.

When the infamous supervillain supergroup, the Vicious 6, oust their leader—legendary martial arts fighter Wild Knuckles (Oscar® winner Alan Arkin)— Gru, their most devoted fanboy, interviews to become their newest member. The Vicious 6 is not impressed by the diminutive, wannabe villain, but then Gru outsmarts (and enrages) them, and he suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. With Gru on the run, the Minions attempt to master the art of kung fu to help save him, and Gru discovers that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.

Cast: Steve Carell, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, with Julie Andrews and Alan Arkin
Director: Kyle Balda
Genre: Action-Comedy