Minions: The Rise of Gru 4K 2022 Ultra HD 2160p

The action takes place before the events of the first film, in the 1970s. Twelve-year-old Gru is a fan of the villainous organization Evil Six and tries to become evil enough to join their ranks. When the Evil Six fires their former leader Wilde Knuckles, Gru comes in for an interview to become a new member of the team.

The villains refuse to accept the boy into their ranks and things get complicated when Gru, with the help of Kevin, Stuart, Bob, Otto and other minions, steals the amulet from the "Six" and finds himself in mortal danger because of it. On the run, Gru and the minions find an unexpected ally, Wylde Knuckles himself, and learn that even villains need the support of friends.

Minions: The Rise of Gru 4K Review
America, 1976. Jaws is playing in movie theaters, people are exercising at home, and vinyl records are on sale in stores. Eleven-year-old Gru, who has only recently met his minion henchmen, is making villainous plans. His main goal is to get into the "Evil Six" society, which includes the most egregious criminals on the planet.

"Minions: Gruvitation" is the sequel to the 2015 animated film, which grossed more than a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. The first part of "Minions" was unsuccessful: the absence of a central protagonist hindered the development of drama, which is why the authors simply could not find the right topic of conversation with the audience. The project, which looked very promising in the draft, was not able to get a decent implementation. The creators tried to illustrate the evolution of the screen world through interactions with real history, but these attempts were limited to a series of incoherent situations.
Another significant problem of the original was the choice of London as the central location: the British coloring looked inappropriate as a background for a franchise originally built on mocking the clichés of American culture, and most of the gags did not go beyond the well-known stereotypical myths about the Foggy Albion. The target audience was not quite clear either - the parodies on Comic-Con and King Kong, the interactions with The Beatles and Queen Elizabeth, the mockery of the American family image were clearly intended for a more conscious audience than most minion fans.

The second part retains elements of the first, but corrects the flaws. The main difference in the new film is the presence in the writing staff of experienced screenwriter Matt Vogel, who was previously responsible for the "Lego: The Movie" sequel. As when working on the "Lego" franchise, Vogel was able to pick up the accents missing from the first solo film, and bring a fresh perspective: many plot twists, a focus on secondary characters, thorough work on locations - something that makes the new "Minions" better than the original. At the same time, the main core of the picture remained unchanged: we again face the chase for macguffin, which involves the familiar characters. Retention of scripted tropes suggests that fans of the original sequel should be to their liking.

Another achievement of the second "Minions" is the presence of a central character that most viewers have known for a long time. Young Gru is the main star of the film, even if he's not the same boy we may have seen in flashbacks to the "Ugly Me" franchise. We are faced with an ardent villain who does not care at all about the problems of those around him, which contradicts the original image - the perpetually lonely and unaccepted child. Simplification of the hero has a dual impact on the drama: a stable image will be more understandable to the viewer who got to the second "Minions" by accident, but at the same time will cause inconsistency in the events of the animated world.

The teenager as protagonist becomes the core of the narrative, built in the first part mostly on the visuals, and allows the authors to speak to their audience more intelligibly. Gru's ambition to become the main villain causes a lot of controversy from those around him: professionals don't believe in the kid's competence, classmates and teachers don't understand his main goals, and relatives don't pay attention to the rebellious child. From this vantage point, the second "Minions" turns into a teen drama about how it is hard to achieve anything in the modern world without connections. The central conflict becomes Gru's confrontation with his idols, the Evil Six gang, which includes some of the world's best antagonists. The antagonism of the boy himself and his minions will eventually lead to the discovery of basic values on the path to adulthood: the ability to distinguish between truth and lies, the ability to work as a team and to listen to the older generation.

One of the key themes of "Gruvitation" becomes the necessity of school education and the search for an ideal mentor. Creators of the tape repeatedly illustrate the idea that the success of the teacher depends on his students: for a teenager the ideal teacher is one of the main criminals of the world, and for the minions - Gru himself. The authors literally confirm the thesis that every able-bodied student will sooner or later find his mentor. At the same time, they are not afraid to touch on topics related to current problems of the educational system. Is it necessary to study many sciences or is it possible to concentrate on what you like? Is it so important to attend an educational institution or will most useful lessons come sooner or later on their own? The outlined questions will not get a full disclosure, which is easy to criticize: romanticizing the negative qualities of the main character will be a stumbling block for too pedantic parents trying to show their children only the "right" cartoons.

While still a perfect commercial product, the second installment of Minions takes a few confident steps forward. The innovations improve understanding between the creators and the audience, and the use of a teenager as the protagonist makes a number of adjustments to the integrity of the project.