As the fifth movie in the Minions franchise, Minions: The Rise of Gru is starting to show that the series is losing a bit of steam. So far, I have really enjoyed the three Despicable Me movies and even 2015’’s Minions, but this movie here seems like it just wants to have one zany Minion or Gru scene go to the next one without much depth in between.
How to Download Minions: The Rise of Gru
Since this is a Universal Pictures release, you can expect to be able to download or stream the film from Peacock TV. This should happen around 45 days after the film’s theatrical release (which happened on the 1st of July 2022). Click on the Download button to check the actual availability. Check out also the four previous installments in the series: Despicable Me (2010), Despicable Me 2 (2013), Minions (2015), and Despicable Me 3 (2017).
The Movie Review
There are still a lot of chuckles to be had here, but perhaps we are at a point where The Minions need a rest? The movie is set in the 70s which gives it an aesthetic that I got a big kick out of. Young Gru is dreaming of becoming a supervillain and after the events of the first movie, he has ended up with a basement full of Minions.
Like the last Minions movie, Kevin, Stuart, and Bob are the main focus here, but there is a new main Minion, Otto who is in on the action and he is a bit of a screwup… even by Minions standards. Say what you will about the Minions, but they are still adorable and able to make you laugh.
Gru dreams of being part of the ultimate villain group, The Vicious Six. The Vicious Six are pretty awesome and my favorite part of the movie. They are made up of Wild Knuckles who is their initial leader, but he ends up getting kicked out after a big job and now Belle Bottom has taken over.
What I love about The Vicious Six is the voice cast that they got. Taraji P. Henson, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Danny Trejo, and Lucy Lawless voice the villainous group. As he is trying to impress them, things go wrong and Gru ends up taking a precious jewel and that puts him in their sights so he has to go on the run.
We have multiple plots going on in Minions: The Rise of Gru. As well as the stuff going on with Gru, we also have Kevin, Bob, and Stuart on a mission and Otto is on one too! I thought the idea of Gru having to try and team up with Wild Knuckles to take on the Vicious Six was a great idea, but there is no depth here at all and I think there could have been a learning opportunity for young Gru here.
As you would expect from a Minions movie there is a lot of silly slapstick humor. The humor is here ok in places and I certainly got a chuckle every now and again. However, I must admit that I think the whole shtick of the Minions is really starting to wear a little thin. To be fair, it could be because I am sick of seeing dumb memes of them online.
I would not say that Minions: The Rise of Gru is a bad movie, but I would probably rank it fifth out of all the Despicable Me/Minions movies. I am sure the kids who love Minions are going to eat all this up and to be fair if you are looking for a movie to watch with your kids, I think you could do worse than this. I just wish that there was a tad more depth to the story as the potential for that was certainly here
