“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” is a sequel to “Minions,” a spin-off based on “Despicable Me.” With a series that has expanded as far as “Despicable Me” has, it is pretty common to see studios that will mass produce less-than-quality content to make a quick buck. I didn’t find that to be the case here.  

The “Despicable Me” series follows Gru through his adult life, adopting daughters, getting married and finding his long-lost twin brother. 

“Minions” explained how the lovable yellow creatures came to be, and why they now follow Gru around. But his latest movie took a slightly different approach than the previous movies.  

“Minions: Rise of Gru” focuses on exactly what the title says it will. We hear about minions and how they came to work for Gru. 

Since he’s just a little kid in this movie, we find out what inspired him to be a super villain. 

In his case, nothing bad happened; it was a career path choice and lifelong goal. 

When I went to the theater, of course there were a lot of children there. Minions are silly little animated guys; what kid doesn’t love that! Surprisingly, though, there were many  people my age as well. 

The first “Despicable Me” came out in 2010, meaning all those little kids are now in high school and college. It was impressive to see how people love the series, even when they get older.  

The movie was really funny. Gru wanted to be cool and professional so he could become a villain, but also frequently got excited and gleeful when he saw his favorite villains. In one scene, Gru is captured and tortured by his favorite villain ever, Wild Knuckles. 

It’s so cute how he is still in awe and being respectful to Wild Knuckles, despite being detained and questioned.  

What I loved about “Minions: The Rise of Gru” was that it was familiar, but exciting. I laughed, cheered and empathized along with the audience. 

Because this series has been going on for many years now, it would’ve been easy to capitalize on the nostalgia and neglect the content of the movie, but it was still funny and heart-warming.

Plus, you can watch it without having seen all the other ones because it’s a prequel!