Gru is a notorious 11-year-old schoolkid from the 1970s, who aspires to become a supervillain, and interviews with the Vicious 6 to replace their now-ousted leader, Wild Knuckles. Rejected and ridiculed by the evil gang, he steals their ancient amulet, which is their big-ticket to becoming indestructible supervillains when its powers are activated at Chinese New Year’s midnight. He’s chased by the Vicious 6 and Wild Knuckles for the stone, as his stooges Stuart, Bob, Kevin and Otto set out to save their Mini Boss.
The fifth instalment of the Despicable Me franchise is the East European reformed baddie Gru’s (Steve Carell) origin story. He’s a 11-year-old prankster in 1976 who throws stink bombs, glues people with a cheese gun and uses magnets to win games at the arcade with his minions, well, the Minions – Kevin, Stuart, Bob and a noob, Otto. The film also reveals how Gru and the yellow little goofballs came to become a team. In this part, the spotlight is more on the hook-nosed and tubby Gru than the Minions, though there’s enough and more of their antics to keep you giggling throughout the movie.
The out-and-out slapstick fare is incredibly hilarious and redeems the spin-off after a tepid first part, Minions (2015). It will be a pun-lover’s delight – Vicious 6’s lair is hidden under a music store called Criminal Records. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a giant lobstr called Jean Clawed, the new ringleader is an Afro-sporting Belle Bottom (Taraji P Henson) and Lucy Lawless plays an evil nun, Nun-chuck who really wields the weapon. But, the flick is overcrowded and doesn’t do enough justice to their talent with such little screen-time. Oh, there’s also Russell Brand as an eccentric inventor Dr Nefario and Julie Andrews as Gru’s mother.
The outing also suffers from borderline self-indulgence as director Kyle Balda has included too many subplots. Wild Knuckles kidnaps Gru for the amulet as the Vicious 6 hunt him down. Kevin, Stuart and Bob train in Kung Fu with Shaolin master-turned-acupuncturist Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh). Then, the new addition, Otto, has a parallel plot to himself. He’s entrusted with safeguarding the amulet but trades it for a googly-eyed pet rock. Then tries to get it back from a happy hippie biker (RZA), for which he rides his tricycle through the deserts and the Valley of Death until he reaches San Francisco. The finale is a bit too chaotic and over-the-top with all the supervillains, the Minions, Gru and Wild Knuckles fighting it out.
The animation is outstanding, especially the landscapes and the recreation of the 70s. The tykes going all puppy-eyed and being the mad hatters that they are make the movie a complete laugh riot. It’s an entertaining watch for kids as well as adults. Too ‘grud’ to miss.