After two years of repeated postponements due to the pandemic, the adorable Minions are finally making their arrival in dark rooms. This is what awaits the public…
Chris Meledandri, founder and boss of Illumination Studios and producer of “Minions 2: Once Upon a Time Gru” is rubbing his hands. A fervent believer in “the enduring power of cinema”, he welcomed his decision and that of Universal Studios not to release this second installment on the origins of Gru on digital platforms during the two years of regular closure of the cinemas. cinemas around the world, patiently and stoically awaiting their full and complete reopening.
“There is a joyful quality to this film, and perhaps more than anything else, the feature film was made with the idea of lifting the spirits of people who see it. The film is pure bliss, and we’re releasing it at a time when that matters more than ever. I think it’s about the fun of watching the movie – you make discoveries in it, but you also feel a lot of nostalgia for a cast of characters that people bonded with almost 14 years ago.” , he thus indicated to the American publication “Deadline”.
– This time, Gru (voice of Steve Carell in the original version) is 11 years and three quarters. He grew up in an anonymous suburb, which did not prevent him from dreaming of conquering the world. His path crosses that of the Minions – of course, Kevin, Stuart and Bob, but also Otto, a newcomer – and he joins them… with the results that one imagines. But now, the group of Vicious 6, thugs led by Wild Knuckles (voice of Alan Arkin) are after Gru. The Minions will then have to try to learn… kung-fu in order to save Gru.
– Many new actors have added their voices to this fourth feature film in the animated franchise. We will thus hear, in the original version, TARAJI P. HENSON, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michelle Yeoh, Russell Brad and even Julie Andrews who is again the voice of Gru’s mother.
– In “Minions 2: Once Upon a Time Gru”, moviegoers will meet Otto, a new Minion whom Kyle Balda, the director of the film, defined as follows: “Otto is different from other minions because, although that he is as clumsy, as well-meaning, and makes mistakes as they are, he is the undisputed champion of mistakes. Thus, at the beginning of the film, Otto is an outsider compared to the other Minions. He talks too much and is a bit different from the others, so Kevin, Stuart, and Bob don’t immediately bring him into the group. But eventually, we come to discover that these are the things that make Otto so special. He represents those of us who have ever felt left out of the cool kids group.”
– The fact that the feature film takes place in the 1970s allowed the filmmaker to integrate elements that rocked his childhood. “I was about the same age as Gru in our movie when I grew up in the 1970s. The TV, the music, the cars, the hairstyles, the bell bottoms…everything was stylish . And with the vibrant colors, the glitter, the disco, it was a visual decade, of course, and it’s been very nostalgic to look back to that era for inspiration. Another major reference and inspiration was the kung fu films of those years. We watched a lot of the movies I loved when I was a kid. The first one that comes to mind is “Master Killer” because a lot of the gimmicks from that movie influenced us, but the biggest inspiration came from comic kung fu movies. Some of the sequences we have in this film are a tribute to this genre and to the excellent work that has been done in productions like “The Chinese Master” with Jackie Chan, “Kung Fu Hustle” and “Shaolin Soccer” by Stephen Chow.”
“The Minions 2: Once Upon a Time Gru” has children and adults alike laughing out loud from July 2.