Despicable Me Retrospective-Renegade Animation #68

Tonight on Renegade Animation, Captain Kaye, the Animation Guru, and Haley look at all five films that make Illumination's #1 franchise, Despicable Me, including the recently released Minions: The Rise of Gru!

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Hey, Everyone! It’s The Streamin’ Demon here again to introduce you the latest Renegade Animation! Here, Mike, Cameron, and Haley offer up a lookback at the five movies that comprise the Despicable Me franchise, both the main trilogy and the two Minions spinoffs! Overall, it’s a series that has brought a lot of laughs and heart to families around the world, which would explain the $3 billion it has raked in! But what does Mike have to say about the most recent outing, Minions: The Rise of Gru?

Minions: The Rise of Gru

“Minions: The Rise of Gru is the highly anticipated sequel to 2015's Minions, a prequel to the Despicable Me franchise. This film, directed by Kyle Balda from a screenplay written by Matthew Fogel and story by Fogel and Brian Lynch, is set in the 1970s, where a young Gru tries to join a group of supervillains called the Vicious 6 after they oust their leader -- the legendary fighter Wild Knuckles. When the interview turns disastrous, Gru and his Minions go on the run with the Vicious 6 hot on their tails. Luckily, he finds an unlikely source for guidance -- Wild Knuckles himself -- and soon discovers that even bad guys need a little help from their friends. Listen, I'm aware that Illumination Entertainment's house style is not everyone's cup of tea, despite the box office telling a different story. But speaking only for myself, I've always loved this franchise, even at its weakest. What's fun about the Minions spin-offs so far is that while on the surface they come across as cash-grabs capitalizing on the most merchandisable side characters, but they also function as slapstick period pieces. Whereas the first Minions was set in London during the 1960's, this installment travels stateside to San Francisco in the 70's. It's a great sendup to both martial arts movies and blaxploitation, featuring excellent vocal performances from Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Alan Arkin, Jean-Claude Van Damme, RZA, and plenty of others. And of course it's great to hear Steve Carrell slip back into the voice of Gru, whose younger character design is just adorable. But Gru's role in the film is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, he's simply a more compelling protagonist to root for. No, it's not simply because he can speak intelligible dialogue, it's that he has a firmly established goal. However, this does accidentally reduce the titular Minions to, for lack of a better term, second bananas in what was supposed to be their own sub-franchise. The film is very well paced, clocking in at just under 90 minutes and never overstaying its welcome. There are plenty of clever jokes and visual gags, and the animation embraces the groovy 70's aesthetic as often as it can. As an added bonus, seeing this movie with a rowdy crowd dressed to the nines enhanced the experience.”-Captain Kaye