The original “Minions” movie first appeared in 2015. Over the summer of 2022 Universal Pictures distributed the new movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru. The new movie definitely pulled people out of their chairs… well it did for me. 

The movie starts off in the late 70s with young Gru, who is trying to get himself into the most popular group of villains called the Vicious 6. Soon the leader, and Gru’s favorite villain of the Vicious 6, ‘Wild Knuckles,’ is knocked out of the group because of a planned trick amongst the other 5 villains. Gru sees this as an opportunity to leave the minions behind to see what kind of villain he really is. Eventually the Minions realize that they need Gru, and Gru realizes he needs them. They fall apart just to learn what they really need is to fall back together. 

Over the summer social media definitely raised the awareness of the movie while it was playing on the big screen. Tik Toks of teens painting their bodies yellow and dressing up as minions drew viewers’ attention and made going to see it in theaters even more exciting, especially after COVID-19. 

The movie was a sequel to the original Minions movie however, it had its own theme that anyone can somewhat relate to. The theme correlates to, following your dreams and highlights that anyone, big or small, can accomplish anything. It also held universal feelings and emotion to even further bring audiences attention to make them feel connected. 

Despite the movie holding so much attention, and having a theme that associates with everyone, unfortunately the film is only 88 minutes long. Rise of Gru shows pieces of Gru and how he matured, however it’s spread throughout the film by showing small flashbacks of his childhood. If the movie had more information about Gru and how he grew up in the beginning of the film, it may have been longer, more heartwarming, and easier to understand. Even though the movie may have been longer this way, it seemed to have a good story that I wouldn’t change. The minions really gave most of the emotion in parts of the movie which pulled me directly into the film. They brought out the scenes with sentiment so much more than Gru or any other characters did which I did like. 

Overall, The Rise of Gru is very worth watching. If you like the first Despicable, and the nostalgic feeling, I recommend this movie for you. If not, I suggest watching the movies that came out before the film before you do go see it. The Rise of Gru is sure to keep you on your toes and may even bring forth reactions from audiences you don’t expect, so go see it in theaters before the summer showtimes are over.