Minions Will Behold The Rise Of Gru Soon

After being delayed for the second time back in 2021, Minions: The Rise Of Gru is finally set to be released this July. I am aware that the yellow pill-shaped beings’ origin was not all that well-received due to plot holes, a few historical inaccuracies and so on and some of us are a bit sick and tired of seeing them everywhere by now [2] [22] [30], but there is still a lot of potential for expressing some deeper backstory for their boss. As firstly hinted at the end of the first prequel/spin-off titled “Minions”, he shall first meet the minions and begin an alliance with them when it comes to following a dream that not many kids would have [14]. And of course, it will be more about the time when he had hair [12] [25]. Now that we are done fooling around on April Fool’s Day, let us bow before the rise of an iconic animated villain set way before his unexpected parenthood and eventual marriage to a secret agent [3] [4]. Besides, it is important to not let sequel bait go to waste, especially if there will be a vow to establish some notable improvements that will fix a few flaws from the first spin-off film [2] [14].

If you were disappointed in Minions by its contradictions and such, you can always claim that it is technically non-canon [1]. However, there is hope that Minions: The Rise Of Gru will be a big step up when it comes to telling an origin story [14]. Let us dig deeper two years and two months after the release of the previous trailer [25]. [12]

As you can tell, the premise of this film will be centred on Felonius Gru following his ambitions in villainy during his childhood in the 1970s, along with a slow progression within a relationship with the loony beings who want to serve him [11] [26]. It sure will not be all tea parties as Gru appears to be annoyed at how he had to share his bed with three of them [12]. The way he sets off a fart bomb at the cinema is a prime example of his deviousness, which appears to be a throwback of the fart gun from the first Despicable Me film [3]. At some point, he gets kidnapped but tells his capturers that his minions will rescue him at a Chinatown [12], which I believe will be after he committed a theft in the previous trailer [25] [26]. Reflecting on a separation from birth that is similar to the one in The Parent Trap [23], I suppose that Dru, Gru’s twin brother who first appeared in Despicable Me 3 can make a brief appearance at some point in The Rise Of Guru as a child living with their father [5]. Other than that, I will quite be interested to see a preteen Gru’s expanded progression. Better not call him “mini boss” though.

At some point, Gru ought to gain the strong desire to steal the moon in this forthcoming feature as it was established in the first Despicable Me film that even he expressed his ambitions in doing so during his childhood, even though his mother was not really interested [3]. Perhaps there can be some attempt to fix the contradictions in Gru’s childhood that were pointed out when comparing Minions to Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 [2] [3] [4] [14]. [12]

Set some time after the events of the first prequel/spin-off film, Minions: Rise Of Gru will also star the trio who went to a secret villains-only convention named “Villain-Con” to meet Scarlet Overkill, the first female supervillain in history who aimed to become the Queen of England [12] [14]. Not only do Kevin, Stuart and Bob seem to be pawns of comedy as the Minions would normally be in the upcoming feature, but they should often display their traits for the sake of some individuality, such as Kevin’s leadership and Bob’s childlike innocence. I do not doubt that they will refuse to give up on their voyage to Chinatown to rescue Gru, even though they get turned into superpowered animals by a talking dragon during a battle. Besides the return of the trio who travelled to find a new master to hail and serve in the spin-off prequel, I believe there can be some room for some small form of individuality for the other minions in its sequel, such as Dave way before Lucy Wilde came into their boss’ life and Otto who has braces and sure loves his pet rock…who will hopefully not anger a red monster from Sesame Street [15] [20]. 

Surely, there can be more notable personality traits in the other minions besides Kevin, Stuart and Bob, quite like how there may be a few more signs in ASL (American Sign Language) demonstrated by Quill in the recently released Moss: Book II [18] [19]. Shhhh! No spoilers here please! Teehee! [12]

Unfortunately, I do not think Otto will be part of the flock for too long after a certain mishap revealed in the previous trailer [24]. How about some brief moment with Mel too [5]? [11]

There are a group of much older villains a young Gru will try and prove his worthiness to,despite his age and how he was mocked in the previous trailer that was released in early 2020 [12] [25] [26]. There appear to be widely diverse, which leads to some creativity when it comes to expressing their individualities. You can tell that the setting is the 1970s by how the lady who has a big afro is dressed. Very groovy! The elderly nun could be an example of a character whose first impression is sweet and innocent to strangers but is ruthless as shown by how she hurls nunchucks during a chase scene. There is also a muscular man with super strength and another whose right arm is the claw of a lobster. As previously stated, there is a battle on a quest to save a captured preteen Gru. All the beasts facing Kevin, Stuart and Bob must be their mighty forms for intense battles as there are about five of them, just like how there are five villains he seems to idolise and want approval from. The new villains in the sequel ought to be interesting to their own degrees besides their beastly forms during epic fight scenes.

Almost as much as I want to find out the true personality of Andrealphus, Stolas’ brother-in-law in the second season of Helluva Boss [9] [10] [13], I am up for knowing what developments these supervillains will consist of. I recall how fascinating the portrayals of Herb and Scarlet Overkill were in the first Minions film, despite how underdeveloped they seemed [2] [14], so the Vicious Six seem highly promising. [11]

I like the name of the group “Vicious Six” as it has a nice ring to it [24], kind of like the Deadly Six from Sonic Lost World [21]. Even though there are five members shown in the second trailer [12], one of them could be retired, leading to an opportunity for Gru to try and be elected as the replacement…before betraying them after they all mocked him, of course [12] [25]. [25]

Any other characters worth pointing out? I am highly fascinated by a new supporting character Kevin, Stuart and bob meet on their quest to save Gru [12]. She is skilled in kung fu and is later seen showing an example when training them, which is quite a refreshing aspect of a new supporting character in the Despicable Me franchise. Despite her willingness to assist them, you can tell that she is not to be messed with as she uses a tranquillized client for an acupuncture session to combat Stuart in quite a humourous fashion. I just wonder if she can be a trainer for Shannon, Gru’s failed blind date from Despicable Me 2 in the future during Gru’s adulthood [4]. As for Marlena, his mother, I suppose there can be some development when it comes to reflecting on her divorce from Robert Gru, along with the separation from her other son [5]. Aside from a new and promising supporting character, Minions: The Rise Of Gru ought to at least try to make up for some of the flaws in the first spin-off prequel or at least be considered in terms of storytelling and faithfulness to the main films [2] [12] [14].

I am always up for more female empowerment besides the world’s first female supervillain [14]. [12]

Besides the active members of the Vicious Six, there ought to be a little more about the gang of men in black leather jackets who capture Gru [25]. [12]

What can I say about the animation and setting of Minions: The Rise of Gru? Well, the setting is sure to feature plenty of aspects from the 1970s with hopefully more historical accuracy aside from pet rocks [11] [12]. I know setting an animated film in the 1960s or 1970s when it is meant to be primarily aimed at children in the early 2020s can put its overall appeal at risk but providing even better historical accuracy can increase the sequel’s credibility when it comes to improvement [2] [11] [14] [26]. Aside from that, the backgrounds are vibrant and detailed with impressive lighting and shading during outdoor scenes and fittingly coloured aspects of interior design during indoor scenes, including well-thought-out details for backgrounds set in Chinatown, matching the modern standards of a professionally developed animated film primarily aimed at children [12] [25]. There are also good special effects, including blazing fire from two dragon statues’ mouths and green and sparkles from magic. There appears to be the notable graphical step up from Minions [14], which is a big yellow plus. Once again, what is more important than masterful animation within cartoonish art style is the impact of the overall story [12] [24]. In this case, it could leave one on those expecting the flaws of the first prequel film to be fixed [2].

I am starting to hope that there was permission to use that Jaws poster, even though it seems to be a very brief parody with the swimmer in the usual cartoony art style. [12]

Overall, with fast-paced action, some promising character development for the titular character and even more humour involving the witty league of minions that boomed in popularity since 2010 [3], Minions 2 could do Felonius Gru’s childhood ambitions justice in a villainous way at the beginning of this July [11] [12] [25] [26]. However, if you are still sick of the babbling of Illumination’s mascots, you can always try and make the most of Puss In Boots’ last life this September [24]. In the meantime, it will not be long until we can get a familiar taste of the second season of Green Eggs and Ham on Netflix, speed up for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in theatres and discover how capable a clumsy yet loveable sabretooth squirrel will be as an adoptive parent in Ice Age: Scrat Tales on Disney Plus [8] [16] [17] [27] [28] [29]. Hopefully, after two delays, the wait for Minions: The Rise Of Gru may be worth it to many Minion fans out there who are curious after that dose of sequel bait [11] [12] [14] [25] [26]. Sometimes, we can keep losing ourselves to new additions to beloved franchises to forget about the conflicts we have been facing. Who knows what Despicable Me 4 will bring in Summer 2024 [6]? I guess I ought to learn a bit of Minionese tonight [7].

All together now! Banana!!! [26]

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