Here is the fifth in the Despicable Me family animation franchise, all about the east European supervillain called Gru and his bug-eyed little yellow henchcreatures, speaking speeded-up Franco-Italian gobbledegook. In fact, it is the second in the specifically Minions-oriented movie series, but it’s an origin-myth prequel that brings Gru and his followers together – it could as well be called Gru: The Rise of the Minions. 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.
It’s 1976 in California and Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) is an 11-year-old schoolkid whose family origins are still unclear. Where the other popular kids are picked up after school by their families, he is met by these weird little thingies, who turn out to have answered his wanted ad for help around the house and whose own biological origins are also a mystery.
