"Minions: The Rise of Gru": A Messy, Laugh-Out-Loud Follow-Up Specifically for Children

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The flaw in the bizarrely complex "Despicable Me" mythos, which has been the subject of five feature films, a third in development, fifteen short films, novels, video games, and even a theme park attraction, has always been that it is endearing for a show about a villainous supervillain. And while the grumpy Gru (voiced by Steve Carell throughout the franchise) putting family and joy ahead of his long-running bad guy plans has provided for some lovely, hilarious flicks in the past, things are getting curiously convoluted as the series attempts to explore his younger years.

Well, tricky if you're an adult who still vividly remembers the delights of the 2010 movie "Despicable Me," which expertly followed that bad-guy-to-good-guy plotline. One and done, right? Never! The original movie, a candy-colored computer animated production that served as Illumination Entertainment's breakthrough feature, eventually gave rise to two of its own sequels, although the creative returns have been declining. Thank god for the Minions, Gru's chatty little roly-poly yellow henchmen who can't help but elicit "aww" after "aww" despite being literally created to only help the worst of the worst.

After all expected the Minions would get their own spinoff, and a clever one at that: 2015's "Minions" cleverly followed the prequel route, chronicling the bizarre history of the little guys, setting them up on a swanky '70s-inspired excursion, and ultimately taking them to their adored "mini boss," young Gru. The small fellas return for another tale seven years later, although this one suffers from the same retconning issues, chiefly that Gru was perhaps always a bit of a sweetheart? And every lesson he has to learn at the age of 11 has already been demonstrated in three other movies? Oops.