By Patricia Meunier
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” is the fifth movie in the “Despicable Me” franchise and also the origin story of the lead character.
We get to see Gru as young and mischievous at the age of 11 years old. He is not the old bad guy like in the former Minions movies. But he is already dreaming of world domination, and you can recognise him with his hook nose.
The story takes place in the heart of the 1970s, amidst a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans. Gru is growing up in the suburbs. On career day at school, the young boy announces he wants to be a supervillain and he is willing to join the Vicious Six.
With the help of his loyal Minions – Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto ( a new Minion with braces and a desperate need to please) – he plots to become evil to join the group.
But things don’t go as expected when Gru shows up for an interview to replace the old leader of the supervillains. After he steals a valuable object from their headquarters, chaos, adventure and hilarity follow.
Steve Carel is still the voice of Gru, delivering his eastern European accent in a kid tone voice this time.
“The Rise of Gru” is produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. The action-comedy is directed by Kyle Balda, with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val as co-directors.
The two studios announced early this year an official release date of July 23, 2024, for their upcoming sequel “Despicable Me 4”, but no story information has transpired yet.
More Minions are on the horizon!
Featured Image: Sydney buses promoting the new release at Chatswood. Photo: Patricia Meunier