“Did you just trade my future for a PET ROCK?” Gru (voice of Steve Carell)
Typical ‘70’s allusion, of which there are too many to count in the smart, frequently side-splitting summer comedy, Minions: The Rise of Gru, the latest in the Despicable me franchise. I know, I know—it’s an animation that should be just for kids, but it is so creative and sophisticated it may be better for adults.
While I always love potty-mouthed bad boys like Billy Bob Thornton’s Bad Santa, Gru has a special place for me because beside his gruff exterior, he is a softie for his twinkie-like henchmen, just as I am for them. Directors, animators, and writers conspire to make us love the ambitious, almost 11-year-old Gru, in his search to become one of the notorious Vicious Six (they having chucked old man Wild Knuckles voiced by Alan Arkin) and subsequently the world’s baddest supervillain.
After the Six ouster Gru, he steals their magic Zodiac stone, and this begins a world-wide hunt to find Gru and the supernatural rock. Along the way, the henchminions quip and slapstick their way to finding Gru and Knuckles to the extent that the audience can be spied texting themselves to see this estimable Looney Tune redux again in order to catch all the gags.
Re-visitation is a necessity given that the little Twinkies speak an amalgam of languages including French, Spanish, and Minionese, so as to be almost indecipherable. Except the tater-tot expressions are so individualistic and nonsensical as to make you laugh if only for the meaning that shines through eyes and mouths anyway.
The creativity is just as evident in the names for various characters:
Lobster-legged Jean Clawed (J. C. Van Damme), Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren), and baddie Blaxploitation Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), to name a few. The laugh leaders, though, are the capsule connivers whose nonchalant reaction to dire danger only endears them more. How the creators evoke sympathy and love from such homely heroes is part of the enduring charm of characters ripped right from 70’s Looney Tunes.
If you have read some of my previous film criticism, you know I don’t often review comedy because, well, I’m tough on it. Minions: The Rise of Gru rises above any other contemporary comedy by virtue of its relentlessly funny dialogue and mercilessly cute minions. Enjoy your summer outing inside in marvelously tricked-out theaters with big screens, big color, big sound, and big seats.
Given the millions spent to bring us high quality cinema, price of tickets is a steal, even for the best of heist cinema.
Bob: Good night
Kevin: Good night
Gru: Yes, yes, yes good night
Sturat: GOOD NIGHT!
Minions: The Rise of Gru
Director: Kyle Balda (Despicable Me 3)
Screenplay: Matthew Fogel (The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part)
Cast: Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
Run Time: 1h 27m
Rating: PG
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take out of WCBE 90.5 FM. Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com
