Minions: The Rise of Gru Parent Guide

It’s 1976 and the supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) is an 11-year-old with a dream: to join his favorite supervillain group, the Vicious Six. But when they reject him for being a child, he decides to prove himself by stealing their latest looted artifact: the Zodiac Stone. With the Vicious Six hot on their tails, Gru and his minions will have to use all their cunning, skills, and loyalty to save the day.

I am going to give the highest praise I ever thought I would give a Minions movie: I didn’t hate it. Yes, the minions are incredibly annoying in large doses, and I hate Illumination’s animation style, but at least this entry into the franchise has some humor, surprisingly decent action sequences, and Michelle Yeoh. I also did not expect the number of Kill Bill references we got, which were a welcome surprise.

The theater my five-year-old and I attended was not very full (to be fair, it was 4pm on a weekday), but the kids who were there seemed to be having a great time. My son laughed out loud many times. Afterward I asked him what he learned, and he said, “don’t do bad stuff or else you’re going to go to jail”. I’m going to chalk that up as a win.

Although this film is primarily aimed at young children, and they are the ones who will be most entertained, adults will find some things to enjoy as well. The 70s setting lends itself to enjoyable period references and music, and the obvious homages to Kung Fu films are sure to please film buffs like me. That said, it is still a Minions movie, so there are lots of butt and fart jokes to stop the adults from enjoying themselves too much. Luckily, there’s very little in the way of negative content, aside from slapstick violence, which makes this a safe choice for most audiences.

Could you do better for family entertainment? For sure. But could you do a lot worse? Absolutely. If you just need need a break from the summer heat, there are worse ways to spend a few hours drinking sugary beverages in air conditioned comfort.