Minions: The Rise of Gru Ending, Explained: Despicable Me introduced audiences to Felonius Gru and his agents of evil/merrymakers, i.e. minions. We got to see more of Gru’s development, but audiences clamored to learn more about the older version of (young) Gru. Minions (2015) was crafted with the beloved Gru making an appearance there and drawing the minions to his side as the baddest villain of the lot. He was just a child when he stole the crown; but what happened between then and the Despicable Me time frame? How did Felonius live up to his rather odd name, keep the minions by his side, and ensure he didn’t meet the fate of the supervillains of old that the minions had gotten rid of? This one is all about Gru.

Minions: The Rise of Gru sees director Kyle Balda focus on the 11-year-old Gru. His ambition in life is to become a supervillain. Why wouldn’t it be considered a poor career choice? The Vicious six has quite a bit of merchandise and even has a TV channel that covers them. Police where?

Minions: The Rise of Gru was a quite puerile film, but it explained a lot about Gru’s adult life as seen in the Despicable Me trilogy and the Minions. Well, of course, it would be childish for an adult, but think about how one would consume the film when in elementary school. Yup. Looks quite entertaining now, right?

Many questions were unanswered. For example. What was the purpose of Stuart, Bob, and Kevin learning kung fu? Or why did Gru barely feature in a film that was supposed to have him as a key central character? An 11-year-old being summoned for an interview to be a supervillain? How thick were the other five to not realize that they had shortlisted a pre-teen?

The adult Gru seemed polished, and Minions: Rise of Gru showed us how. It always takes a mentor to mold one to one’s potential and pass on the nuances of a task to them.

While Gru always dreamed of becoming a supervillain, he only had elements of mischief in his arsenal. After joining hands with Wild Knuckles, things changed and Gru learned a few tricks of the trade from ‘his favorite supervillain’. Of course, that wasn’t smooth and can be considered a bond formed out of Stockholm Syndrome.

Despicable Me presented Gru’s partner and inventor to audiences. However, Minions: Rise of Gru explained their first meeting. Nefario was the first villain that Gru met as the man served as the behind-the-counter person for the Vicious Six’s Criminal Records. He was the gatekeeper and allowed Gru to enter the interview, where he stole an object from the greatest bunch of villains. Nefario even instructed Gru to leave, and did not move a muscle to prevent the pre-teen from fleeing with the Legendary Zodiac Stone.

Later in the film, Gru uses his sticky gun invention a lot and realizes the importance of an inventor. Hence, he makes him an offer as it is through Nefario that Gru found a foothold and managed to steal a painting to impress his mentor. 

In the Despicable Me series, Gru eventually joined the AVL. This may have been after he adopted The Girls, but he has had an element of good in him right from his childhood.  He oozes evil, but it isn’t on the level of the Vicious Six. They don’t seek to help anyone and even kick their mentor/founder/leader, Wild Knuckles, from the group. Knuckles captures Gru to get the Legendary Zodiac Stone and then selfishly uses the child for his household chores after his new henchmen walk out on him. After being bound and left to spin on a disco wheel, Gru could have let Wild Knuckles get devoured by his pet crocodile. However, he saved his captor and provoked me to characterize him as a noble supervillain, i.e. one who would definitely have enough good in him to prevent other supervillains from achieving their goals. By doing so, he would also clear the path for himself. So, kind of balancing good with evil.

The concept of the Minions being attracted to the evilest person around is kind of disproved as they just seek cheap thrills. Young Gru provides them this in abundance with his mischievous pranks as he uses a cheese ray to jump the line, taunts gym patrons with ice cream, engages in creative ways to claim prizes at the arcade, and uses an innovative technique to secure an empty cinema hall. None of these acts can be considered criminal, but they give the minions the opportunity to have a laugh and stay entertained.

But what kept them around even after he fired them? They could have easily joined forces with any of the Vicious Six. Well, they saw the potential for mischief with Gru as he engaged in numerous not-so-nice activities for cheap thrills. However, had he not flicked the Legendary Zodiac Stone, things may have been different, as his villainous element may have been overshadowed. Hence, that split-second evil decision exhibited that intrinsic quality that saw the “mini-boss” retain his minions.

Or, it could even be that they were like the Qilin in Fantastic Beasts… they identify the one deemed worthy of being the greatest supervillain of the era.

After the Vicious Six had Gru beaten, Wild Knuckles emerged and used the help of Kevin, Bob, and Stuart to finish them off. Later, both sets of villains were arrested and Gru was left alone.

We then were taken to Wild Knuckles’ funeral. How? Wasn’t he in jail? And wouldn’t the authorities have done his burial themselves rather than handing him over to a child? What’s more interesting is that he was actually alive, something only Gru managed to see from his vantage point. This scene was like the entire movie that presented numerous questions about its plot. How did Knuckles pull that off?

However, it solved a few things and showed that Gru received a mentor that helped hone his innate villainous qualities. Wild Knuckles, Gru, and all the minions drove off together in a car at the climax, signaling the start of Gru’s official training and leaving the door open for further Minions sequels/Despicable Me prequels.

The film opened the door to that, but also connected the dots to a few things we had seen in the previous films in this universe.

Well, it would be stating the obvious if someone proclaimed their love for films here. Why else would they be here? What would be useful, is knowing that I adore Hitchcock, Tarantino, and Nolan. I'm not averse to any type of film though as each cinematic work of art assists me in growing as a person and a cinema lover and a writer.

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