Minions: The Rise of Gru received a mixed response from viewers. On one hand, some brushed it off as just another silly kids movie. For some however, it constituted a culturally significant, with people all over social media dressing up in suits to see the film.
Many dressed this way as a joke, of course, but the unusually formal outfits speak volumes about the minion’s impact on a new generation of young film viewers - as does the movieś box office performance. Rise of Gru grossed 914 million dollars worldwide, the fourth highest of 2022 behind Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World Dominion, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Still, Rise of Grul wasn’t quite as successful as its 2015 predecessor Minions, which made 1.159 billion dollars.
As for critics, Minions: The Rise of Gru received a 6.6/10 on IMDb, 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 56% on Metacritic, and a 3.5/5 on Letterboxd. These ratings are pretty expected, Metacritic being the only real outlier. What’s interesting is that audiences gave it an 89%, despite its lack of critical acclaim.
But what does Edgemont think? Tenth grader Zach Philips was disappointed by Minions: The Rise of Gru, blaming social media trends for building hype that it failed to live up to. Jake Depietto added that many viewers who were fans of the original Despicable Me movies felt let down by the newest installment in the franchise. Both Jake and Zach agreed that the new Minions was fun, but lacked any real substance. Some students were also disappointed that rapper Yeat’s popular song “Rich Minion” was not featured in the film.
Penelope Kraus thoroughly adored the film, mentioning its great suspense and hilarious minion content. She gave the film an 8.5/10. In stark contrast, another student gave a whopping 0/10 rating, saying that it was too short and there wasn’t enough action. The difference in these ratings goes to show the wide variety of opinions on Minions: The Rise of Gru. Sophomore Brandon Gibbons found that the theater experience was better than the actual movie because of the people who dressed up as minions and the audience's reactions.
The first Minions movie met with criticism from both critics and the public alike, but many Edgemont students still prefer it to The Rise of Gru. One junior called it “the worst in the whole franchise” while a 7th grader who overheard disagreed and said it was easily the best in the trilogy.
"Kevin has been the core minion from the very start, a natural-born leader, a gray wolf amongst the white wolves of followers.”
A common theme amongst the responses was a love for the minions as characters, specifically how they speak in their own unique language. I asked students about their favorite minion, and the results are as follows: Bob received an astounding 17 votes, Kevin received 6 votes, Stuart got 4, and Otto came in last with 3. This isn’t much of a surprise, as Bob has always been a favorite amongst Minions fans. Students who picked Kevin seemed to believe that people who chose Bob were not fully thinking for themselves. One of these Kevin supporters, Vibhu Vajpayee, had this to say: “The impact of TikTok on an impressionable young mind is vast and important…supporters of Bob flocked to his side without even being able to name the other minions. Kevin has been the core minion from the very start, a natural-born leader, a gray wolf amongst the white wolves of followers.”
Personally, I have also always shared a fondness with Kevin. Overall, I thought that Minions: The Rise of Gru was an entertaining children’s film, but nothing more. I like the idea of diving more into Gru’s past, as he is a character that many who grew {no pun intended} up with the Despicable Me movies loved. I always enjoyed these films but never obsessed over them like some people. Regardless, I still liked seeing how ‘the great Gru’ came to be.
While this film is fun and isn’t supposed to be taken too seriously, I don’t think it needed to be made in the first place. I’m a strong believer that Hollywood is making too many sequels, reboots, and remakes, which doesn’t leave enough room for other original films. Nevertheless, while Minions: The Rise of Gru surely isn’t perfect, I think Edgemont agrees: how can you not love the Minions?
Comments