MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU

Not all the gags land, but the slapstick antics of Kevin, Bob and all the other Minions are still good for an occasional belly-laugh.

Minions: The Rise of Gru hardly reinvents the wheel, but the seventies-set prequel to the main Despicable Me franchise still produces intermitting smiles and the occasional belly-laugh, ensuring both kids and adults will have a fun-filled 90 minutes in their local movie theatre.

The biggest innovation of the film is its use of a young Gru as he tries to get into villainous gang The Sinister Six though the plot itself - and especially its by-the-numbers third act confrontation - aren't the reasons why you'll be entertained by Minions: The Rise of Gru.

As usual it's the slapstick antics of Kevin, Bob and all the other Minions that deliver the best parts of the movie. Particular highlights include a sequence where the cute yellow henchmen get kung-fu training and the showstopping travails of Minion Otto as he tries to retrieve the film's Macguffin: a magical zodiac amulet.

Not all the humorous bits reap equal dividends but overall Minions: The Rise of Gru is a pleasing, exquisitely animated rollercoaster of a film that doesn't have a dull moment in it.

release: 2022

director: Kyle Balda, Brad Ableson, Jonathan del Val

starring: Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson