Minions: The Rise of Gru parents guide

Minions: The Rise of Gru Parent Guide

The 70s setting will give adults to something to smile about: the fart jokes and manic action will entertain the kids.

Overall B+

Theaters: In this prequel, 12-year-old Gru is a fan of the Vicious Six, a group of supervillains. Determined to become evil enough to join the group Gru hatches a plan and starts working with the minions.

Release date July 1, 2022

Violence B
Sexual Content B+
Profanity A-
Substance Use A

Why is Minions: The Rise of Gru rated PG? The MPAA rated Minions: The Rise of Gru PG for some action/violence and rude humor

Run Time: 90 minutes

Parent Movie Review

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.

Directed by Kyle Balda, Brad Ableson, Jonathan del Val. Starring Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Taraji P Henson. Running time: 90 minutes. Theatrical release July 1, 2022. Updated

Watch the trailer for Minions: The Rise of Gru

Minions: The Rise of Gru
Rating & Content Info

Why is Minions: The Rise of Gru rated PG? Minions: The Rise of Gru is rated PG by the MPAA for some action/violence and rude humor

There are chase scenes, and moments of peril, including a character being dangled over an inferno. Villains magically transform into monsters who attack protagonists. Torture is attempted: a character is tied to the hands of a clock, which causes him to stretch alarmingly, but he is rescued before actual damage occurs. There are scenes of physical combat, involving kicks and punches which are shown in slow-motion but without any injury detail. Characters also behave recklessly, with acts like playing with blowtorches or trying to pilot an airplane.
There is some use of mild anatomical terms (“butt”) and frequent burp and fart jokes.
There is occasional buttock nudity, in a comic context.

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Minions: The Rise of Gru Parents' Guide

Is Gru a better villain on his own or with his minions? What does he learn about teamwork?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

Do you want to join forces with Gru? Check out The Anti-Villain League Handbook by D. Jakobs.

Older kids who want more anti-hero action can try Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. (The book; not the movie, which is terrible.)

Kids of any age who want to laugh out loud as they watch a precocious youngster navigate a confusing moral universe can settle down with the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip collections by Bill Watterson. Parents will get a kick out of these too.

Familiar stories take on new life when told from different perspectives. The well-known fairy story is seen from the other side in The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Helen Oxenbury also takes a different spin with The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. Kids will have a great time trying to figure out the rights and wrongs of the stories and comparing them to the original.

Home Video

Related home video titles:

Gru and his feckless but loyal minions appear in numerous films, including Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Despicable Me 3, and Minions.

In Megamind, a young alien on earth begins a career as a supervillain.

Is she a villain or a wronged victim? Maleficent gives a new perspective on the frightening goat-horned antagonist from Sleeping Beauty.