Minions: The Rise of Gru is an animated comedy sequel directed by Kyle Balda, Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Va that hit the big screen this summer. Set in the 1970s, Minions: The Rise of Gru follows young Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, growing up in the suburbs where he is a fanboy of a supervillain group known as the Vicious 6. Gru forms a plan to become evil enough to join them with backup from his loyal followers, the Minions.

This film has a fun twist from the previous installments of the series, in that we see Gru represented as a  little kid. We watch him hang out and idolize supervillain Wild knuckles, voiced by Alan Arkin. They go on an adventure to try to steal a very valuable stone.

One particular highlight of the film was that it did remarkably well in dividing the runtime among the two stories of Gru and the Minions. It makes for a fun and easy to follow story when seen with an audience. Some audience members took their enjoyment even further when they dressed up in tuxedos and minion costumes and followed the conclusion of the film with a standing ovation. This made for a great environment, and made me appreciate that I took the time to see it in theaters.

While this movie was surprisingly  fun for me, it does run into the problem where it tries to do too much too quickly. There are pacing issues throughout, and  it tries to be the master of all, but really it’s the master of none. This leaves some jokes falling flat, and causes some emotional scenes to fade.

This movie is fine in what it sets out to do, which is to be a film to show the kids and distract them for an hour or two. That being said,  it fails at becoming a movie to be enjoyed by all ages, and it will likely not be a  classic children’s movie like its predecessor.

This film was a pleasant movie going experience, but overall it is a bit disappointing for me as a teenage audience member. I do expect, however,for younger children to fall in love with it despite its flaws, just as my generation did with its 2010 prequel.