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Despicable Me and Minions Movies
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Release Date
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April 5, 2023
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Running Time
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22:39
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Previous Review
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Next Review
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Link
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Video
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(We begin with a new Nostalgia Critic intro styled after fighter selection menus from modern video games. After the intro, we see NC in his room.)
NC: Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to. So, before I get to a certain...
(The poster for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is shown.)
NC (vo): ...animated film that surprised people with its growing popularity...
NC: ...I want to talk about another animated film that surprised people in a similar way.
(The poster for The Super Mario Bros. Movie is shown.)
NC (vo): With Illumination Studios about to release one of its biggest, if not its all-time biggest hit....
NC: ....I think it makes sense to look back at the film series that put them on the map: Despicable Me and Minions.
(Various clips from the franchise are shown,)
NC (vo): When you look at the highest-grossing movie franchises of all time, there's several names you'd expect to be on there: Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and so forth. But another franchise that keeps surprisingly making big bucks are these movies. We see those minions all over the place.
(Cut to a clip of Mortal Engines, showing statues of the Minions at the London Museum.)
NC (vo): Even other films have mocked how weirdly iconic they've become.
Professor Arkengarth (Terri Norris): We're about to lose our American deities!
(Staff members try to adjust the Minion statues.)
NC: So, this does beg the question: are they worth all the praise?
(Clips from the franchise continue showing)
NC (vo): I mean, I don't know anyone who hates these movies, but I don't know anyone who loves them, either. Yet they still keep Illumination as one of the biggest animation studios. So what were they doing right that many of us seem to be missing?
NC: Well, let's go back to 2010 for the release of their first film, Despicable Me.
Despicable Me[]
(The first film's title card is shown, followed by clips from the film.)
NC (vo): If you saw the teaser for this movie, you'd probably think this would be an easy film to forget. It's literally just the opening of the flick with a family visiting the Pyramids, only to find they've been stolen.
(Footage of the opening is shown, with a mother, father and son visiting them. The son falls into the Pyramids, only to find they're not the real Pyramids, but inflatable replicas, and gets launched into the air. The mother tries to catch him, but she miscalculates, and the son lands on his dad, flattening him to the ground)
NC: (confused) It just looked...odd.
NC (vo): As more trailers came out, people still weren't sure what to think of it. The film centered around a wannabe supervillain named Gru, played by Steve Carell, who's in competition with another supervillain named Vector, played by Jason Segel. When he tricks three orphan girls into helping him out with an evil scheme, he finds he actually forms a strong bond with them and may actually want to give up the supervillain lifestyle, all while Vector is becoming more and more dangerous.
NC: The film, many said, was the perfect definition of...cute.
(A scene from the film is shown, with Gru, the girls, and two minions. Gru wants the girls to get in bed.)
Gru: Okay, bedtime.
Girls: Awwww!
Minions: Awwww!
NC (vo): It had some laughs, it had some heart, and the animation was bright and colorful. But audiences, especially kids, fell in love with one particular element: Gru's minions.
(A scene plays with Gru and some of his minions trying to steal the shrink ray. He cuts a hole in the roof and lowers one of them down to get it. Once he has it, he tries pulling him out, only to accidentally smack his head on the ceiling twice.)
NC (vo): Voiced by the film's director [Pierre Coffin] speaking absolute gibberish and leaving most of their humor to visual slapstick, these were the perfect loud, bouncy and unmistakably distinct comic relief that, let's face it, most likely skyrocketed these films to being iconic. Not at all to say the main characters were bad, because they weren't. They were just...very safe and predictable.
(A scene is shown of Gru getting the girls ready for bed.)
Edith: Are these beds made out of bombs?
Gru: Yes, but they are very old and highly unlikely to blow up. But try not to toss and turn.
NC (vo): The minions, though, spoke a language that only kids seemed to fully embrace. Similar to when I was a kid and me and my friends all laughed our asses off...
(Cut to footage of Ren and Stimpy.)
NC (vo): ...at "Happy Happy Joy Joy". Why was this funny to us as children? It just combined the magic formula of silly, weird, and just a little inappropriate.
(Cut back to footage of the minions.)
NC (vo): And the minions seemed to do something similar for kids in 2010. This resulted in the film being a surprise hit, so naturally a sequel was in the works.
Despicable Me 2[]
(The title card for Despicable Me 2 is shown, followed by clips of that movie.)
NC (vo): Three years later, Despicable Me 2 came out, and it's gonna sound weird, but...
NC: ...this was kind of the most important sequel in the series.
NC (vo): Because the first film did so well and they knew kids loved the wacky humor, they had to decide in the second one: do these movies try to have a lot of heart, lean heavier into the humor, or try to do a balance of both? There's no doubt kids loved the first movie, so whatever direction the second one went in, it was going to be the roadmap for the future of the franchise.
NC: (disappointedly) And yeah, they went with all jokes.
(One scene demonstrating this is shown)
Silas Ramsbottom (voice of Steve Coogan): I am Silas Ramsbottom.
Minion #1: (to Minion #2, snickering) Bottom. (They both start laughing.)
NC (vo): But to the film's credit, it was kind of the perfect time for a just all-jokes movie. I can't say 2013 was a bad year, but I do recall people were a little on edge. (Images of serious events from 2013 are inserted.) There was the Snowden stuff, the Boston Marathon bombing, a typhoon in the Philippines... People kinda just wanted to see something light, bright and colorful, and this movie fit the bill perfectly. Gru is recruited by a spy named Lucy, played by Kristen Wiig, to help her agency recover a dangerous mutagen from an evil genius. At first, he refuses, thinking it'll put his newly adopted kids in danger, but he finds he misses the thrill of action. So he agrees to join Lucy to find this super baddie, and....yeah, that's about it. While I can't pretend there's no heart in this movie, it clearly takes a back seat to the humor. And you could argue this is the beginning of the films kind of becoming unfocused. Because they figured out the minions were the breakout characters, they tried to sneak them in wherever they could, whether it made sense or not. Sometimes, they got a laugh; other times, they pulled whatever little story was going on to a halt. Like I remember, after one of the major action sequences, it suddenly cuts to this...
(A scene is shown with the minions dressed in white and singing "I Swear" in their own language.)
NC: (dumbfounded) What the hell is going on?
NC (vo): There's a lot of scenes like that, but there are still some good elements, too. Lucy is a good addition to the cast. She's a pretty fun character, and when it comes to voiceover, (Shots of some of Wiig's other characters are inserted.) I kind of think Kristen Wiig can do no wrong.
Silas Ramsbottom: (to Gru) I apologize for our method in getting you here.
Lucy (voice of Wiig): I don't. (chuckles) I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It gave me a bit of a buzz, actually.
NC (vo): There is still a nice connection between Gru and the girls and them wanting him to find a girlfriend for him and a mother for them.
Agnes (voice of Elsie Fisher): (to Lucy) Are you single?
Lucy: (flattered) Oh! Goodness.
Gru: (somewhat embarrassed) Ah! Hey!
(The scene of Gru and Lucy's wedding is shown.)
NC (vo): Even if it is a little fast*, but again, this film was mostly about jokes, and the jokes seemed to work...well enough. With the help of a really good marketing campaign and, like I said, some good timing, Despicable Me 2 was a gigantic hit, becoming the third highest-grossing film of that year. And at the center once again were the minions.
- NOTE: It actually wasn't fast, as right before the wedding scene, there was a caption that said "147 Dates Later..."
(A scene with the minions on the beach is shown, while "In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry plays in the background.)
NC (vo): Despite not being the main characters, they were officially the face of the franchise, showing up as (An image of minion merchandise is shown) mascots, toys, countless merchandise. They were all over the place.
NC: So finally, Illumination decided to cut out the middle Gru and just give them their own movie.
Minions[]
(The title card for Minions is shown, followed by clips of that movie.)
NC (vo): Minions was released in 2015, two years after the last Despicable Me sequel. I think a lot of people thought this would be similar to like what they did with the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels down the line; everyone just wants to see Jack Sparrow, so why not just give them Jack Sparrow?
(As we cut back to NC, the credits for Minions is shown, revealing that Geoffrey Rush, another longtime Pirates performer, did a voice in this movie.)
NC: (shrugs) And apparently, Geoffrey Rush did both of these.
NC (vo): The reaction to this was...uh...a little better than the Pirates sequels, but not by much. The film is a prequel, showing that since the dawn of time, there have always been minions searching for someone to serve, but the problem is, they suck at it.
(The film shows one such example of them sucking at serving someone: a group of minions serving a vampire open a curtain in a castle, spilling sunlight into the room. It's the vampire's birthday (his 357th), as the minions then hold up a banner saying "Happy birthday" and hold out a cake to their master, who screams at the sunlight bearing down on him. He suddenly freezes and is reduced to dust, which one minion blows away. Then we cut to three minions at Villain-Con.)
NC (vo): That is, until the '60s, when they see there's a Villain-Con. (sounding hesitant) This...is a funny idea, but I really don't think cons were that big in the '60s. At least, not this big, but...who cares? Splitting hairs. Three of the minions, named Stuart, Kevin and Bob... Please don't ask me which one is which; they're pretty interchangeable. ...are drawn to a supervillain named Scarlet Overkill, played by Sandra Bullock. She uses them for her own evil deeds, which is fine by them; that's what they wanted. But rather out of nowhere, she backstabs them because...again, this series is mainly about jokes and not really about anything making sense.
NC: And honestly, for about the first half of the movie, it isn't bad.
NC (vo): The jokes are pretty good, with them accidentally killing anyone they work with, creating this family of future homicidal maniacs, and I do forget how hilarious Sandra Bullock can be.
Scarlet Overkill: (holding up a teddy bear) All these villains, and yet I still have the bear. (scowls at it) Stuffed bear; why am I holding a bear?!
(The posters for Runaway Bride and You've Got Mail are shown.)
NC (vo): I always group her in that '90s American sweetheart lineup that always un-genuine to me.
(Cut back to Minions.)
NC (vo): But I do forget she can be very, very funny. This is one of those movies, though, where it's very easy to point out where everything goes downhill. There's a scene halfway through where all they have to do to hypnotize these guards and have them sing a little song.
(The minions hypnotize the guards by singing (in gibberish) "Hair" while wearing a huge hypnosis orb on their heads. The mesmerized guards join in.)
NC: Okay, cute, whatever. But then...
(The guards and minions continue their song, with the guards stripping themselves down to their boxers and removing their hats, revealing ridiculously long hair that covers almost their whole bodies.)
NC: I know I said it already, but what the hell is going on?!
NC (vo): Yeah, from here on out, this is just how the film works. It had a clear plot they were working towards, and then they just go for random setups that they think the minions would be funny in. And honestly, it's just too random. Again, there are some jokes that work. Scarlet Overkill's dress that literally overkills made me laugh. But this was feeling more like clips to put in a trailer, rather than a funny plot that was elevated with clever humor.
(One giant minion breaks a hydrant and runs his hand over the gushing water that sprays all over the sidewalk. However, he is standing just over it enough to make it seem like he is relieving himself.)
NC (vo; deadpan): Look, it's like he's peeing on them, but he's not.
NC: (nonplussed) Hilarious.
NC (vo): While the film was another big hit... In fact, for a while, it was in the top ten highest grossing movies of all time. ...the movies were starting to feel...a little cheap. Oh, not in the animation itself; it was still bouncy and weird and no doubt entertained a lot of kids, but people were starting to get a little more split about it. Like, yeah, I laughed, but...that's about it. Nothing really stayed with anyone after seeing the flick. The Despicable Me movies, despite also being very joke-centered, did have the family element to anchor it down, to make it about something, even if it wasn't a ton of something.
(A clip of Despicable Me 3 is shown.)
NC (vo): So, it was back to formula, as it was decided at least one more Despicable Me movie was going to be made. Would it recapture the spirit of the original?
(Two minions wear grass skirts rip them off, revealing their briefs underneath.)
Minions: YIPPEE! (They rub their butts together.) Oopa-oopa-oopa-oopa...
NC: (smiles) No!
(On that note, we go to a break. Upon return...)
Despicable Me 3[]
(...the title for Despicable Me 3 is shown, followed by clips of that movie.)
NC (vo): In 2017, Despicable Me 3 was released, and the consensus seems to be it's the least of the Despicable Me films, but it's not awful. An '80s child star [Balthazar Bratt] from a show called Evil Bratt, voiced by Trey Parker, is obsessed with reliving the good old days and tries to be a supervillain, similar to what his character did on his canceled show. Gru and Lucy are called in to take him down, but after things go awry, they're kicked out of the agency. Oh, and also, Gru has a brother that looks just like him. Oh, and one of the girls is searching for unicorns. Oh, and another girl is on a date with a boy she doesn't like. Oh, and Lucy is trying to figure out how to be a good mother. Oh, and the minions are thrown in jail!
NC: Okay, you can already see the problem, right?
NC (vo): The focus in these movies has been getting worse and worse, and now it's getting in the way of the more heartfelt moments. Gru, for example, teams up with his brother [Dru], having ulterior motives, but out of nowhere acts way too mean to him.
Gru: (to Dru) No wonder Dad thought you were such a failure. (Dru gasps in shock.)
NC (vo): This just seems like a lame excuse to have a third-act breakup. And on top of that, some of these jokes do feel a little dated, even the ones that are supposed to be dated. Like, there's a lot of '80s-ploitation at a time when that was really dying down. Honestly, the show he was on has more of a '90s vibe, doesn't that feel a lot more like (The poster for the following is inserted...) Pinky and the Brain? I do think some '90s throwback would have been a little bit more timely and fun.
NC: Also, an animated film where the villain...
NC (vo): ...is playing the song "Bad" while doing an evil deed? How can you not think of (An image of the following is inserted...) Megamind when you see that?
NC: But again, the film isn't awful.
NC (vo): It does at least try to give everyone an arc to go through. Some work, some don't. The minions, despite having a B-story that accomplishes very little, are very funny. You think they're gonna be eaten alive in prison, but they actually end up owning the place. That's pretty hilarious.
(One inmate sees the Minions taking a basketball.)
Inmate: Give that back!
(One of the Minions throws the ball into the inmate's stomach, who clutches at his stomach in pain while the Minion throws the ball at his head.)
Inmate: Guys!
(He runs off while the Minions chase after him.)
NC (vo): Then there's just an overall sense of harmlessness. When a joke failed, it didn't make you laugh, but it didn't make you angry either. There was a sense of trying that was coming through. It just once again had trouble keeping its eye on one thing as opposed to a ton.
NC: With that said, the box office showed this franchise wasn't done yet.
NC (vo): It didn't make as much as Minions, but it did make more than its previous sequel. So, logically...
NC: (shrugs)... let's make a sequel to the one that made more money.
Minions: The Rise of Gru[]
(The title for Minions: The Rise of Gru is shown, followed by clips of that movie.)
NC (vo): Delayed several times due to COVID, Minions: The Rise of Gru was completed in 2020, but didn't come out until 2022.
NC: And by this point, people knew what to expect.
NC (vo): This was clearly just an excuse for jokes, imaginative humor, nothing remotely deep, and once again, people were ready to play along. The film picks up eight years after the last Minions movie, as a young Gru... (A shot of the younger Gru from the earlier Minions movie is shown in the corner, still the same as eight years ago) who does not look eight years older from the last film, takes the minions in, hoping they'll help him be part of the Vicious 6.
(The Vicious 6 spot the young Gru. They are not impressed. Their leader, Belle Bottom, turns to another member, an evil Frenchman named Jean Clawed (who has a lobster pincer for his right arm), with scorn.)
Belle Bottom (voice of Taraji P. Henson): Who let the kid in?
Jean Clawed (voice of Jean-Claude Van Damme): I thought he was a tiny man.
Belle Bottom: What's wrong with you?
NC (vo): Gru steals a magical stone from them until they change their mind, and all sorts of crazy things happen with that stone, and face it, you don't care. With the Despicable Me movies, you might get a bit of investment if you're lucky, but with the Minions films, you're just here for lazy YouTube clips.
NC: (shrugs) But, as lazy YouTube clips go, it is better than the last Minions movie.
NC (vo): There's some fun moments, with characters turning into various animals and monsters and meeting people to help them control these new abilities. The animation is easily the best it's ever looked in these films. I mean, look at the backgrounds in half of these scenes...
(Cut briefly to a clip of the first Despicable Me, whose backgrounds are comparatively less modern.)
NC (vo): ...compared to the backgrounds in the first movie. It's impressive how far...
(Cut back to the second Minions movie.)
NC (vo): ...the technology has come in what's basically an expensive Tiny Toons flicks. But hey, (The poster for the Tiny Toons film How I Spent My Vacation is shown briefly.) Tiny Toons made a flick that was nothing but jokes that was kind of fun, and this is similar. Rather than pretend that the films are not unfocused, in this one, they just lean heavy into it. There's a sequence where all they have to do is fly to get to the main villains, but this turns into a whole routine where we see them as '70s pilots and flight attendants, and it could easily be cut out.
NC: However, you would miss some good laughs.
(In trying to fly the plane, the minions almost crash into the signal tower, but they get it flying in the nick of time. The plane rockets straight up the side of the tower, while the minions are screaming. All the while, the Blue Danube Waltz plays in the background.)
NC (vo): You can't say it's a great comedy, but you kind of give it credit for not pretending to be anything but what it is. And nowhere was that better demonstrated than with an unexpected trend called "Gentle Minions".
(Footage of the Gentle Minions trend is shown, with teenage boys attending the film in suits and sunglasses.)
NC (vo): Groups of teen boys would dress up in suits and attend the film as if they were seeing the most serious movie ever produced by humans. Sometimes it got a little out of control, like some would scream and throw bananas at the screen, but the fact is these kids knew what kind of film they were going to see, and had fun with it. It wasn't like Morbius where it turned into a meme because they were criticizing what a waste of time it was, this was turned into a meme because they were celebrating what a waste of time it was. They knew they weren't gonna get any life-altering lessons from it. It was just fun to turn your brain off and get a few laughs while pretending you were seeing high art.
NC: ...I think. OK, I'm not gonna pretend I 100% followed this either, but, (a clip of the Gentle Minions going down an escalator is shown) that image does make me laugh!
(More clips from the movie are shown.)
NC (vo): The film, once again, killed at the box office, being the fifth highest grossing movie of that year. And this is a year when (the posters for Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water and Jurassic World Dominion are shown) these flicks came out. Audiences, once again, didn't seem to fall in love with it, but enjoyed it just fine.
(An article is shown talking about Despicable Me 4 being made)
NC (vo): And as I'm recording this, it looks like a Despicable Me 4 is in the works. And on the one hand, I do think they should probably stop, or at the very least, start wrapping them up...
NC: ...but on the other hand, why stop now?
(Footage of the franchise as a whole is shown.)
NC (vo): What, are we gonna ruin the integrity of these movies if they just keep making 'em? These flicks seem to be perpetual money makers. Despite very rarely being about anything deep or meaningful, that might actually be what brings people back to them. They are light, they are unfocused, they do clearly care more about giving kids a good time rather than teaching strong lessons...
NC: It's...cinematic candy, but you know what? Candy in moderation isn't that bad.
NC (vo): Candy is bright, colorful, sweet, and if done right, can make you smile for a short bit of time. With films still being made, will these movies ever go deeper with their characters and stories? I guess it's uncertain, but at this point, it's not expected. I can't pretend I really get into these films that much, but if I was, say, under 12 years old, I think I would. As an adult, they're not bad, they're just not anything that special, but I don't think they're supposed to be anything special to us. Like I said, these films seem to speak a secret language that kids really understand and gravitate towards, and there is something special about that. It captured that hyper-silliness that wants to have fun just to have fun, and as long as there's no bad messages or obnoxious humor to make you grind your teeth, I think it's OK. It's not the smartest kids franchise out there, but it is still imaginative and weird enough that you can see how it would spark creativity and humor in others. They're probably not high art, but they're probably high...(beat) they're probably high.
NC: I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to. (He gets up and leaves)
Channel Awesome Tagline – Minion #1: Bottom.
Minions: (laughing)
(The credits roll.)