Minions: The Rise of Gru follows the childhood life of Gru and the factors that shaped him into an adult. The story is driven by Gru’s obsession with the Vicious 6, a supervillain group, and follows his efforts to become part of the group, as well as the challenges he faces. While his peers wish to be firefighters and teachers, Gru chooses a more ambitious path: a villain. However, this doesn’t come easy. Because Gru is twelve years old, his dreams seem far ou of reach to other people. This results in him not being taken seriously by his peers as well as any adult. He faces a heavy amount of backlash, but that doesn’t stop him.

After hearing about an opening for the Vicious 6, Gru takes this opportunity to prove that he has what it takes to be a villain. But as he is in his interview, he gets ridiculed by the 5 other members who claim he has no shot to be a villain. But once again, nothing will get past Gru and his lifelong dream; not even the very people who Gru idolizes telling him he can’t make it. What the Vicious 6 don’t know is that Gru is far ahead of his time. For a twelve-year-old, he sure knows his way around gadgets and trickery. To prove himself as a valuable villain, he steals the Zodiac Stone, one of the most precious artifacts, from the Vicious 6, sending them on a wild goose chase to get it back. However, this takes a turn when the stone is lost by one of the newest members of the minion crew, Otto, and they have to work together to avoid the Vicious 6. With the help of his yellow sidekicks, the Minions, Gru shows the villain group that he is more than capable of becoming a supervillain by outsmarting their every move.

Although it’s not necessary to have watched the previous Despicable Me movies, there are a fair amount of references to the other movies, which resulted in me doing a lot of googling. However, if you are an avid fan and know the Despicable Me movies relatively well, you will have no trouble recognizing the names and references.

I enjoyed this movie. The “subversive humor, pop-culture sophistication, full-hearted emotion, bold music sensibility, and over-the-top action” made it impossible not to like. Not to mention, the animations in the movie are incredible, and the 1950s genre is incorporated very well. From the characters’ clothing to background music and overall environment, the film does a fantastic job of mirroring the 1950s era.

Another fascinating aspect of the movie is how versatile its audience is. Ages range from children to adults. Many of my friends who watched the movie, including myself, noted that the theater was filled with more teenagers than children. As a result, it’s no surprise that the movie has received tons of media coverage throughout the world. Whether you are an avid Despicable Me fan or not interested in the series at all, chances are you heard about it on social media. Its release to theaters started a global trend, as teens across the nation have shown up to theaters in style, dressing up in suits or as characters from the movie, to properly celebrate its release.

Despite teenagers’ heavy appreciation for the movie, it also came with a lot of criticism–mainly surrounding its storylines. Critics argued that the movie had far too many random plots that were lacking satisfying endings, and that its focus constantly shifted from storyline to storyline. Although I partially agree with these ideas, I did not find this to be a major disruption in the storyline and do not think this should stop anyone from seeing the movie. All in all, I left the theater glad that I experienced it and wanting a minion of my own.