Is Minions The Rise of Gru safe for kids? Is Minions The Rise of Gru OK for chidlren? In the new Illumination and Universal Pictures animated movie before the Despicable Me movies, read the Minions: The Rise of Gru Movie Review | Safe for Kids?, an honest parents guide to the all new 2022 Minions 2 prequel sequel film starring Steve Carrell. No spoilers! #TheRiseofGru May contain commissioned links.
Minions: The Rise of Gru Movie Review | Safe for Kids? Parents Guide
On the heels of a disastrous 2015 Minions movie (starring Sandra Bullock), here we are 7 years later with yet another prequel sequel to the popular Despicable Me franchise that audiences didn’t ask for. Perhaps squeezing out Illumination’s last chance to capitalize on Gru and his gang of minions, The Minions: Rise of Gru movie, aka Minions 2, is taking advantage of families returning to the movie theaters for the summer of 2022 with hope of laughter and funny antics.
But does Illumination finally deliver a successful sidekick movie, or is it all just gibberish?
Is Minions: The Rise of Gru safe for kids? In this Minions: The Rise of Gru Movie Review | Safe for Kids? Parents Guide, I’m talking visuals, the story, a full PG rating parents guide breakdown for violence/suspense, language and adult themes, and sharing whether this Minions 2 prequel sequel film is a fun summer flick for families this summer or just a chaotic mess. A no spoiler parent review – is Minions: The Rise of Gru kid friendly? What child age is recommended to watch Minions: The Rise of Gru?
Or are families no longer laughing, and finally outgrown the whole Despicable Me era?
The Visuals
Per usual, Illumination does not disappoint when it comes to film visuals for children. After 7 years, the Minions themselves have only gotten cuter…at least visually speaking. Closely related to the success of Sing 2 CGI, the animation is crisp, clean and appealing to kids and families alike. I honestly can’t complain on the bright, happy, colorful, and familiar visual vibe that the Despicable Me movies bring to the big screen, especially after the pandemic movie dry spell.
The Story
Minions: The Rise of Gru features an all-star voice cast including Oscar nominated Steve Carrell (“Despicable Me” trilogy) reprising his role as Gru, Taraji P. Henson (“Ralph Breaks the Internet“) as Belle Bottom, Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Bloodsport“) as Jean Clawed, Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess“) as Nunchuck, Dolph Lundgren (“Rocky IV“) as Svengeance and Danny Trejo as Stronghold as the Vicious 6. The film also features the return of Russell Brand (“Trolls“) as Dr. Nefario, Michelle Yeoh (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings“) as Master Chow, and Oscar winner Julie Andrews (“Sound of Music“) as Gru’s mom.
Gru is back, baby! The Minions: Rise of Gru aka Minions 2 movie follows the notoriously adorable bad guy sidekicks alongside young Gru, growing up in the 1970’s. With a new cast of villainous characters, more crazy Minion antics, visual gags, lots of fun Despicable Me Easter Eggs and an entertaining soundtrack, the Minions are back and feeling groovy in this sequel.
Learning a few lessons from the first Minions film (thank goodness), the audience can invest more in the origin story and the early relationship building than trying to translate a chaotic game of charades (sorry not sorry, Scarlet Overkill). Along with life lessons on family, friendship, and trust, this fan-driven film is a better portrayal of this family of Minions, by leaning heavily on the what makes the Despicable Me franchise a success – teamwork.
Minions: The Rise of Gru PG Rating Explained
Is Minions: The Rise of Gru safe for kids? It’s no secret that I am highly skeptical of all MPAA ratings. And as we know, not all PG ratings are the same. As a parent, it’s been rather heartbreaking to witness how movie ratings have shifted over the years with G-rated movies a thing of the past.
With film ratings unpredictable these days, even PG ratings oscillating between Turning Red intense to Christopher Robin calm, there’s a wide range between the age of 0-12 years old for parents to consider. Having fully disclosed parent guidelines can help determine if a movie is family friendly – and safe for the whole family to watch together this summer.
Why is Minions: The Rise of Gru rated PG? In this Minions: The Rise of Gru Movie Review | Safe for Kids, this Despicable Me prequel sequel film has a PG age rating for “some action, violence, rude humor.” Is Minions 2 safe for kids? Should parents be worried about taking their kids to see another questionable crude humor PG rated Illumination animated movie? Let’s breakdown that MPAA rating for parents in this Minions: The Rise of Gru Parents Guide.
Language. For being an evil villain movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru keeps the language mostly clean. On par with the Despicable Me movies and the first Minions movie, there are NO swear words to be found in the newest Minions film installment. Mild insults include words like “sucker,” “loser,” “stinky,” “tubby little punks,” “demons,” “stupid,” “butts,” and “idiots.” But as far as profanities go, only a couple of “heck” uses and one “shut up.”
Violence. Violent, yes. Cartoon feels? Also yes. While the Despicable Me franchise and Minions movies tend to go a little overboard on the use of weapons (including knives, swords, axes, chainsaws, gun-like gadgets), hand-to-hand combat, mayhem, arson/burning of characters, and even electrocution, the overall vibe is still that of a lively and fun cartoon animated film.
Along the lines of Looney Tunes or more recently comparison to The Bad Guys type of violence, there is no blood, gore, or death involved in any of the violent acts. Some depictions of the villains may be scary/suspenseful for young kids. One black eye, a couple of cast/brace uses, a few charred/beat up looking characters, attempted eating/consumption of a character, acupuncture depiction and one “assumed” vomit scene is as intense as it gets for Minions: The Rise of Gru.
Adult Themes. Physical comedy and visual gags are kind of the Minions “thing.” So when it comes to the rude humor, you bet that this section of the movie review is going to be full of crude jokes. A couple of kisses on the cheek, one good “butt slap” for affection, an offer for “smoochie, smoochie,” fart insinuations, and use of tennis balls as female breasts (with one scene of a Minion grabbing the balls to adjust placement, and one scene of the balls falling to the ground). I wish I could say that’s as crude as the humor gets. However…
Ifs, ands, and BUTTS. Plenty of butt visuals are seen throughout the new Minions film. And we cover (or uncover?) a full spectrum from fully clothed “gyrating” butts to fully nude with visible cheeks shown. While mostly of our yellow friends (Yes, there are MULTIPLE scenes, parents.), audiences do see a human half-cheek bottom fresh from the shower (towel only), as well as the donning of underwear on a human. And the butts do their jobs – ensuring plenty of laughs from the audience. Thankfully there’s no full frontal nudity!
Speaking of butts, I hate putting this in there (WARNING – kind of a spoiler?) but I do think parents and kids need to be aware of a very visual scene of a chicken pooping a bunch of eggs out of it’s bottom as an attack move in the face of another character. Take that as you will. While numerous (the butts, that is), I honestly wasn’t surprised to see any of this in the new Minions film. Butts and farts, it’s the Despicable Me rude humor trademark, honestly.
Minions: The Rise of Gru Age Rating for Kids
At a runtime of 1 hour 27 minutes, Minions: The Rise of Gru is the right length for a children’s movie. With plenty of action, adventure, physical comedy, and top notch animation visuals, kids will definitely appreciate a film that caters to all of the butts, farts, and laughs that make being a villain look so good. Made for kids (though also enough interest for adult fans as well), Minions: The Rise of Gru has all of the essentials needed for a fun summer flick for the whole family.
Use the 3 Despicable Me movies and the first Minions movie as a baseline, I encourage parents to use the same age level guide when comparing to the new Minions: The Rise of Gru movie. If your child is a hardcore Minions and Despicable Me fan, this movie will definitely be a must-see for them this summer.
This 2022 Despicable Me prequel sequel film has a PG age rating for “some action, violence, rude humor” by the MPAA.
Yes, this Minions 2 sequel has one post-credits scene. Be sure to stick around.
Based on my Minions: The Rise of Gru parents guide and mom review above, this parent movie reviewer would not recommend Minions: The Rise of Gru to kids younger than the age of 4-5 years old.
Considering the full PG rating breakdown above, this parent movie reviewer would not recommend Minions: The Rise of Gru to kids younger than the age of 4-5 years old. I recommend parents to prescreen Minions 2 film for all questionable adult themes and crude humor for your kids, as well as for “scary” villains. There’s a lot of ifs, ands, and BUTTS to unpack here. I completely understand.
The Overall
Who knew? Minions: The Rise of Gru isn’t all just gibberish. I’m happy to report that this Minions movie 7 years in the making actually learned a lesson or two from their first disastrous film. The Minions need Gru. These loveable sidekicks cannot perform well without their leader to feed off of, to interpret, and to connect with on a deeper level. And thankfully, Minions: The Rise of Gru delivers what the fans want to see.
With a new cast of villainous characters, more crazy Minion antics, visual gags, Despicable Me Easter Eggs and an actually entertaining 70’s vibe soundtrack, the Minions actually shine in this sequel as a fun summer movie for families. I wasn’t a huge fan of the new villain gang (meh…just okay) and Illumination teetering the line on character stereotyping and culture portrayals in our society’s current tense state (yeah, I saw that). An argument for another day. However to keep things bright, light and Minion-friendly, these guys are no longer lost in a sea of hand gestures, gibberish, and weak characters. The Minions complement young Gru in yet another Despicable Me like film with a more solid story foundation – getting to the heart of why fans keep coming back for more.
It’s a sequel spin off that’s better than the original. That’s a Minion of a different color.
Follow Minions: The Rise of Gru on social:
- Website: https://www.minionsmovie.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/minions
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/minions
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minions/
- #Minions #TheRiseofGru
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Catch Illumination’s newest animated film, Minions: The Rise of Gru in theaters on Friday July 1, 2022. Will your family be watching this Despicable Me spin off prequel sequel?
I was invited to a special movie screening in exchange for this Minions: The Rise of Gru Movie Review | Safe for Kids? Parents Guide. All photos courtesy of Illumination and Universal Pictures. Be sure to follow Raising Whasians for more movie updates, celebrity interviews, entertainment and behind-the-scenes info!
Saad Shah says
Minions are the best!
Chickenfan420 says
Hello. Noticed a factual error in your review. Chickes do not poop eggs out of their butts, its called a cloaca. Thank you for your time.