Minions – The Rise of Gru: Nothing new in this instalment; oh wait, they are all a lot younger

2/5

Story: Minions: The Rise of Gru is the sequel to Minions (which was a prequel to the Despicable Me series), and follows Gru’s introduction to big bad villainy as a 11 -year-old. When a ‘vacancy’ opens up on the villain gang Vicious 6, Gru (Steve Carell) wants to be considered a contender. But when his young age becomes a matter of ridicule for the remaining five on the group, Gru decides to make them sweat and steals a precious Chinese amulet from them. But then Gru can’t use it as leverage for a position in his favourite gang because a minion misplaces it. How will Gru overcome this?

Review: In the 12 years since the first Despicable Me movie came out, the franchise has been milked in many different ways – there were three movies in that series, two prequels and some short films too. That’s way too many times that we’ve seen either Gru and the minions or just the latter, up to no good.

And here we have it again, only this time, Gru is quite young and applying for his first real big-time stint as a super-villain. Of course, he doesn’t make the cut owing to his young age, a slight he doesn’t take kindly. So, he decides to steal a valuable Chinese amulet from them, in the hope of blackmailing them into giving him the spot on the Vicious 6, which he believes he deserves. But turns out that the erstwhile member of the Vicious 6, who is presumed dead, resurfaces and is after the same amulet.

Dim-wits that the minions are, they manage to lose the amulet and then begins a quest for them to find it and return it to its ‘rightful owner’. How many times will we watch the same plot foils? The film, which is less than two-hours long has a been-there-done-that vibe about it from the start. All the silliness that ensues when Kevin, Bob and Stuart set out to find and save Gru from the villains, as well as when Otto is on a mission to retrieve the amulet that he traded for a ‘pet rock’, have little to no novelty about them. The narrative is predictable and, quite honestly, lacks imagination.

The film boasts voice talents by artistes like Steve Carell, Alan Arkin, Pierre Coffin, Taraji P Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Russell Brand, Danny Trejo, and Julie Andrews, but then, most of them have so little to do that you don’t even realize the star power on this cast.

Verdict: If you have religiously followed every movie or short film from the series, you may still want to see this one, but be warned, there’s just nothing new in this one. The only saving grace is the animation and that is quite top notch, especially in the San Francisco portions. Suffice to say, you can give this one a miss at the box office.