Jun 30, 2022

- "Minions: The Rise of Gru" - Review Roundup: the funniest or most boring movie of the year?

Illumination's "Minions": so we checked out what critics are saying about the latest film from the Comcast/NBCUniversal-owned studio.

"Minions: the Rise of Gru," the fifth film in the "Minions Despicable Me" series, is a sequel to 2015's "Minions," itself a prequel to the original franchise. Hopefully, the film will ease the minds of those who didn't understand Lightyear's backstory.

The film is being touted as a barometer of box office success for several reasons. In the wake of the disappointing performance of Pixar's "Lightyear," many are questioning whether animated children's and family-friendly films can match the pre-boom results, especially with increasingly shorter theatrical runs. lightyear" grossed $70 million on its opening weekend to $85 million in its opening weekend, but by the time ticket stubs were tallied, the film had grossed only slightly more than $50 million.

Minions Predictions According to experts, the film could gross between $65 million and $93 million during the July 4th holiday weekend. By early next week, we will have an idea whether the light-year slump is an outlier or a harbinger of a terrible future for animated feature films.

As is customary with Illumination films, "Minions": The Rise of Gru premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and the few reviews released at the time were unanimously favorable. After further press screenings, however, reactions cooled, and the film now stands at 67% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and 58% on Metacritic. [Here's what critics are saying about "Minions" ahead of its theatrical release this Friday:

Variety's Peter DeBruge called it the funniest comedy in Hollywood this year, and Paris' He praised the animated film, produced by Illumination Mac Guffe. Unlike some studio productions, however, these films don't show off a bit, using incremental advances (like the ability to host set pieces in various San Francisco neighborhoods) to support the action rather than get in the way of it. The creative team, led by director Kyle Balda, has combined the slapstick routines of the Three Stooges with the classic squash-and-stretch character animation of the Golden Age, while at the same time working on how to stage such gags in three-dimensional space. creatively.

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter takes a similar view, even going so far as to say that most of the best comedy work today is happening in animation. Along with "Chip and Dale/Rescue Rangers" and "Bob's Burgers Movie," the funniest scripts these days are proving to be animated films. A particular highlight is a scene in which two of the Minions pilot an airliner, which predictably leads to a great deal of mayhem. Unfortunately, as is often the case with films of this type, the final half of the film is an endless series of fight and chase scenes that quickly become tiresome.

In a review for Screen Daily, Wendy Eide questions whether the Minions franchise has run its course, despite "Phantom Thief Gru's Minion Escape" being a worthy sequel. The endless montage of kung-fu training for the minions, played by Yeoh, has lasted rather too long. Ultimately, however, the goofy elements in the Minions' repertoire still deliver the playful escapism from reality that the series excels at. The charm of a bunch of oversized lemon tic tacs with welding goggles flying around the frame is still there, but it may not last another film.

The only thing worse than a bad movie is a boring movie, and David Jenkins of "Little White Rice" pulls no punches in assessing just how boring this film was.

It is by no means a horrible or unpleasant film, but it is a chronic bore, another film that is likely to join the billion-dollar box-office club. Gruel, it turns out, stands for cinematic gruel. And to the multitude of adults who are willing to accompany their children to this terminally half-baked affair, bring your Sudoku and reading lamps and thank us later.

And Katie Walsh of the L.A. Times, who has seen some of the most negative reviews ever, had to go off-planet to express her frustration with the entire "Despicable Me" movie universe and with this franchise.

When the aliens finally invaded, they would find remnants of a Minions-based civilization and wonder what the hell happened here. How these hot-dog shaped, banana-colored, word-speaking overlords came to permeate our culture, appear on screens large and small, imprint themselves on merchandise, loom large on inflatable statues, and haunt our nightmares, is Having lived through this period, I cannot begin to explain it.

The power of this inexplicable creature animation's grip on the cinematic landscape is insidious, and it continues its reign of terror in its latest film, "Minions: The Rise of Gru."

"Minions": The Rise of Gru is a Universal Pictures production, produced by Illumination and animated by Illumination McGuff. Producers are Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, and Chris Reynaud; executive producer is Brett Hoffman; co-producer is Jean-Luc Florinda. Directed by Kyle Balda; co-directors Brad Ableson and Jonathan Del Valle. Matthew Fogel and Brian Lynch wrote the screenplay.