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How are we not over the Minions by now? As good as I thought Despicable Me was, I always found them annoying. I didn’t need there to be two spin-off movies based around these irritating yellow sidekicks. But here we are. We can’t seem to get away from them. I can only hope that other people have started to feel the same way and we won’t have to put up with much more of them. Considering this burning hatred, you might be asking why I decided to watch this film for today’s review. The answer is a familiar one: time. I ran out of time to watch something and this was less than 90 minutes long. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of it but it certainly worked within my time constraints. Also, every time I turn on the TV, Sky are telling me that it’s available to watch. It felt like something was telling me to watch it.

If you’ve seen any of the films in the Despicable Me series of films then the story won’t exactly shock you. Gru steals a thing, the Minions cause problems, and everyone ends up in a battle against a big bad. So, if you’re enjoyment of the previous instalments remained consistent, you’ll probably enjoy this. If you’ve grown tired of the concept with every new release, I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Yes, it’s kind of fun to see Gru as a child. There are plenty of references to the previous films with cameos from younger versions of familiar characters. Gru’s scientist assistant Dr Nefario turns up as do Mr Perkins and Silas Ramsbottom. If films were only rated on their in-jokes or fan service then The Rise of Gru would be a 5-star. It knows its audience and knows what they want to see. They essentially want to see Minions and there are plenty of them here.

Although, this isn’t quite a second Minions film. Instead, it’s more of a Despicable Me prequel. The focus is definitely on Gru but the tiny yellow things get plenty of time to shine. Despite the fact that Gru spends most of the film trying to ditch his jabbering companions. He has his eyes set on the big time and joining the infamous villains The Sinister Six when they’re a member down. When they dismiss him because of his age, Gru gets his own back by stealing a magical stone. He plans on giving it straight back to them but, obviously, something goes wrong. Meaning that Gru has 5 of the worst criminals out to get him. Oh, and the Sinister Six’s former leader. He’s out for revenge after being cruelly dropped and is willing to take out his anger on young Gru.

Storywise, it’s not that exciting and it’s pretty messy. There’s just so much going on and so many characters that we never really get to know. The different plot threads don’t really gel that well. When they all eventually converge at the end, it barely comes together. Although, I admit that these films haven’t been about interesting storytelling for a while now. These are unambitious films that are just trying to tick the right boxes. These films are meant to be silly without much rhyme or reason, which I guess they are. There’s something undeniably fun about the visuals and the character design has always been a strong point. The 1970s setting is really well realised and the Sinister Six are an interesting bunch. I just wish we got to know them a bit better.

Ultimately, this film feels a bit hollow. I just didn’t care what happened to anyone. We knew that Gru was never in any real danger because he grows up into the Gru we’ve seen before. So, we’re just waiting around to see how he’s going to get out of it. This is absolutely a film for fans. If you can’t stand yellow things with a penchant for denim, I’d say it’s best to stay away.