Minions: Nace un villano

Its a fun movie. Minion scenes are more than Gru and thankfully so. The chemistry between minions characters is epic. Love Kevin, Bob and Stuart.

There is no deep meaning or higher message, a simple carefree movie which is supposed to be seen that way.

For reference, here are my ratings for the other movies: Despicable Me - 9 stars. Despicable Me 2 - 7 stars. Minions - 6 stars. Despicable Me 3 - 6 stars.

I am so pleasantly surprised that this is the best one since the original. It fires on all cylinders: comedy, story, visuals, action scenes. It starts out fast and never lets up. The movie flies by. And it has tons of great new characters.

This movie is absolutely hilarious. I was literally in tears in some scenes. The minions are at their very best with so many memorable moments. The story is surprisingly unpredictable and keeps you invested. The visuals are stunningly beautiful. I was mesmerized. And the action scenes are pretty epic, the best of the entire series.

I had a blast with this movie. It's definitely worth seeing on a premium screen, greatly enhancing the visuals and action scenes.

(3 viewings, opening Thursday IMAX 6/30/2022, IMAX 7/6/2022, 7/1/2024)

The latest from Illumination Studios is another adventure, actually a prequel this time, as we follow how Gru, still voiced by Steve Carrell, tries to get in the door to join the Vicious Six (voiced by Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Jean Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Danny Trejo & Dolph Lundrgren) after they have betrayed Arkin during a sacred stone heist. Dismissing him as being too young & distracted by another potential try-out, Gru manages to steal the stone sending the baddies on his tail but due to one of the accompanying minions trading the stone out for a pet rock, the race is on to get the rock back before the Vicious Six (really five at this point!) get their collective mitts on it. Sure the film is threadbare plotwise (being an excuse to have a bunch of minion antics running throughout the story like socks on a laundry line) but the film is nothing but fun & unlike the Shrek films which acted as an alternative to the Pixar output, at least the Illumination team keeps pushing the envelope on perfecting their visuals (standouts include the textures on the minions' goggles & Gru's realistic expressions when he's upset or challenged). Returning champs to the franchise include Julie Andrews as Gru's mom, Russell Brand as Mr. Nefario (he's not a doc yet) w/Michelle Yeoh as a kung fu master the minions get lessons from & the Rza as a biker who gives a minion a much needed ride to San Francisco.

Going to watch "future best animated picture winner" Minions:Rise of Gru I had high hopes. I was not however expected the experience that I had. The Story was crisp and emotional, the animations though fake felt realer than ever,I say this with no exaggeration.....IT WAS BETTER THAN MORBIUS. It's Morbin time...More like It's Minion Time.

'Minions: The Rise of Gru' follows 11 3/4 year old Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell) trying to make a name for himself and join the ranks of an elite villians group, the Vicious 6. With humble beginnings as a troublemaker in his mother's basement, the minions (voiced by Pierre Coffin) are determined to help him succeed in his mission.

The film is a sort of origin story for Gru, despite having elusions to his childhood in the 1st and 3rd movies. The wacky and wonderful minions carry the film, but sadly, the plot seems haphazard. The henchmen, Jean-Clawed (voice by Jean-Claude Van Damme), Svengeance (voiced by Dolph Lundgren), and Stronghold (voiced by Danny Trejo) all seem to be second-string compared to Belle Bottom (voiced by Taraji P. Henson) and Wild Knuckles (voiced by Alan Arkin). The animation is fairly standard of the earlier movies, the flow is solid, and the film's ending kind of makes sense, but the plot in general is a bit of a hodgepodge.

Worth a watch with the kids.