The reviews for Minions: The Rise of Gru are in, and they are largely praising the animated film's wacky sense of fun. The Rise of Gru, which comes to theaters this weekend on July 1, 2022, is the second Minions film after 2015's Minions, which was spun off from the popular Despicable Me trilogy. This project bridges the gap between Minions (which was set in 1968) and the first Despicable Me, depicting the future supervillain Gru as a child (still played by Steve Carell), as he encounters the little yellow creatures who will continue to be his companions and servants when he is an adult in 2010's Despicable Me.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is one of the final films from the delayed 2020 slate to be released, following the reopening of theaters after the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps because of its years of anticipation, or because of the Minions' continued stranglehold over pop culture, Internet memes, and children's imaginations, The Rise of Gru is predicted to do extremely well at the box office. It is currently projected to take in $150 million globally this weekend, with between $65 and $75 million coming domestically during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. In fact, it's likely going to outpace the big-budget Pixar offering Lightyear by a country mile.

Related: Every Despicable Me Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

Ahead of the film's release, many publications have published their official reviews of Minions: The Rise of Gru. As has been the case with every film in the family-friendly franchise, opinions vary as to the effectiveness of the Minions' slapstick antics. However, while many reviews find fault with the film's fluffy, superficial plot, many agree that the project is still delivering big laughs, with some even arguing that it's the best entry in the now five-film franchise. Check out selected quotes from Minions: The Rise of Gru reviews below:

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

There are one or two laughs, largely from characters’ names, and a witty and unexpected reference to the “Don’t tase me, bro” meme. But the MacGuffin plot is perfunctory and frankly this is a franchise now running on the thinnest of fumes.

Robbie Collin, The Telegraph

An unexpected treat, and by far the series' punchiest and most polished entry yet.

Peter Debruge, Variety

Six months into 2022, it’s the funniest film Hollywood has produced thus far. Audiences know what to expect, and Illumination delivers, offering another feel-good dose of bad behavior.

Thomas Floyd, The Washington Post

Visually, the kinetic movie is occasionally inventive but disappointingly content to paint by numbers.

Todd Gilchrist, AV Club

The film’s celebrity voice cast members deliver their dialogue with uninspiring proficiency, although I’d pay good money to watch live video of Arkin cantankerously reading lines in the booth and wondering what he’d signed up for. Coffin once again steals the show as the voice of all of the Minions, sputtering and giggling as they squash, stretch, and fart (of course) in response to the stimulus around them.

Rafael Motamayor, SlashFilm

"Minions: The Rise of Gru" will not usher in a new era of animation, nor change the way we treat prequels. What it will do is entertain kids with more Minions shenanigans, a fair number of fart jokes, and references to other characters in the franchise. But where the film really shines is in how it takes Bruce Lee and Blaxploitation movies and wraps them around a Minions story. If even one kid comes out of this movie wanting to see more movies with kung fu, killer nuns, and badass Black women, then that'd be enough.

Olly Richards, Empire

This is just straightforward fun. It’s unlikely to win over anybody unmoved by the previous movies and likely to deliver exactly what you’re expecting if you’ve enjoyed everything so far.

Frank Scheck, THR

Carell, necessarily adopting a higher-pitched but still amusingly accented voice, continues to be a hoot as the devilish Gru, who somehow manages to be endearing even when behaving at his worst. And kids will continue to adore the gibberish-speaking Minions, especially when they bare their cartoon butts. But hey, they could have worse role models

Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” features a star-studded voice cast, but Lucy Lawless, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Julie Andrews couldn’t have spent more than 10 minutes each in the recording booth for this one. This is all Minions, all the time, and I suppose one must salute Pierre Coffin, the French animator who directed the original “Despicable Me” and provides the voices for the Minions. Now there’s an origin story that might be more interesting — or at least illuminating — than “The Rise of Gru,” which is at least, blessedly short.

Currently, the Rotten Tomatoes score for Minions: The Rise of Gru is maintaining a Fresh rating of 68% and about 66% among top critics. While it's not a particularly high score, it's the best that the franchise has received since Despicable Me 2 earned 75% in 2013. The following films, Minions and 2017's Despicable Me 3, only received 55% and 59% respectively.

For many parents, whether or not they go to see Minions: The Rise of Gru is not up to them. Many children across the globe are still obsessed with the Minions and will drag whatever adults they can to the movies with them. However, those who had some trepidation about the latest entry in the franchise can rest easy knowing that, at the very least, the film has been delivering for quite a few critics.

Next: Every Movie Coming To Theaters In July 2022

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