'Minions: The Rise of Gru': Have a laugh at the origin story of 'Despicable Me' baddie

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” is the perfect movie if you’ve been needing a moment to just laugh, no matter what age you are. Yes, it is an animated film that will appeal to kids for sure, but it's written with adults in mind, too.

The latest movie in the Despicable Me franchise is set in the 1970s and a lot of jokes will go over kids’ heads, like the supervillain with a robotic lobster claw for an arm. He's named Jean-Clawed and voiced by Jean-Claude Van Damme.

However, kids will still love the slapstick comedy and the shenanigans the minions get into.

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What is a minion?

If you’re not familiar with the Minions series, Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) is a lifelong supervillain with an army of minions (voiced by Pierre Coffin). They're cute little yellow beings who wear overalls, have one or two eyes and speak Minionese, a made-up combination of words from English, Spanish, French and other languages.

Even if you haven’t seen the films, you’ve probably seen the minions. Besides being a popular franchise, they sparked a cultural phenomenon known as Facebook mom Minion meme culture.

OK, now on to the actual movie

“The Rise of Gru” is set after the "Minions" movie but before "Despicable Me." It tells the story of Gru's first experience as a villain and how an army of minions responded to his help wanted ad in the paper, with the main three being Kevin, Bob and Stuart, plus one more important Minion named Otto.

Despite being a kid, Gru is offered an interview to join the Vicious Six, an elite group of supervillains who kicked out their oldest member and are looking for someone younger to take his place.

But maybe just not that young. The Vicious Six reject Gru and, to prove how villainous he can be, he steals their zodiac stone, an amulet that holds the power of the animals of the Chinese zodiac.

Gru gives Otto the stone and tells him to take it to their lair, but Otto loses the stone and Gru says he never wants to see any of them again. Of course, the Vicious Six wants the stone back, but so does Wild Knuckles, the member who was kicked out.

He kidnaps Gru, but they end up bonding. Meanwhile, Kevin, Bob and Stuart go on an adventure, fly an airplane and learn kung fu as they try to find and save "Mini-Boss," as they call him.

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We could all use some comedic relief

"The Rise of Gru" is an improvement in the comedy and animation of the previous Minions movies. A few things might not make sense if you haven't seen the earlier films, but this isn't the Marvel Cinematic Universe and you don't need to watch all of them in chronological order to get the story and the humor.

You can’t help but love the minions, and even though they are all little yellow guys who are dressed the same, they have their own unique personalities. I expected the movie to be much more silly than clever and targeted at a very young audience, but parents and grandparents will probably laugh more than their kids.

'Minions: The Rise of Gru' 4 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Directors: Kyle Balda, Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val.

Cast (voices): Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin and Alan Arkin.

Rating: PG.

Note: In theaters July 1.

Contact the reporter at alexis.potter@azcentral.com or follow the reporter on Twitter at @alexispotter_.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Despicable Me' story 'Minions: The Rise of Gru' will make you smile