An adorable henchman brings the humor to 'Minions: The Rise of Gru'

Because Sergio Pablos created the Minions, he must own a swimming pool filled with Dom Pérignon. In 2010, "Despicable Me" opened to huge worldwide success, grossing $3.7 billion worldwide. Despite their ho-hum names, Bob and Kevin speak in a helium-pitched Spanish-french-Italian gibberish, hit each other, and giggle about their pain. That's it. However, it is impossible to not love them.  In "Minions: The Rise of Gru," the franchise's fifth installment, the hyperactive henchmen's farcical antics are back, a fun prequel detailing Gru's circumstances leading up to his redemption.

The Minions are some of the funniest and most likable animated characters out there, although the film is a bit light, as these films often are. Little Gru, growing up in the 1970s, dreams of joining the Vicious Six, a group of villains reminiscent of the Suicide Squad. Group interviews for the gig after Wild Knuckles disappears, but enrages the Six by stealing a powerful Chinese medallion that can unleash "the power of the Zodiac." Destroy the world, yadda yadda.  Gru is taken and kept in San Francisco, and Gru's obedient little Oompa Loompas go on a road trip to find their “mini-boss!”

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This film is as simple as they come, which makes it a nice antidote to the competing "Lightyear," which sometimes falls victim to the Pixar trap of being too clever. Basically, the story is designed to place them in a bunch of silly situations. A turbulence-filled flight to California by Kevin and Bob, dressed as pilots, turns into "Catch Me if You Can.". As they train in the style of the "Rocky" training montage, they learn kung fu from Master Chow (Michelle Yeoh), a San Francisco acupuncturist who moonlights as a kung fu expert.  Dumb, dumb Otto, meanwhile, rides a motorcycle to see the largest banana in the world. Throughout his childhood, he was a hopeless romantic and briefly fell in love with a rock with googly eyes. The Minions work better when serving a lame-o villain in "Rise of Gru." Compared to the previous Gru-less movie, "Rise of Gru" is better.

Nevertheless, there is room for improvement. Despite having personality, the Vicious Six are mostly a missed opportunity. Several real-life screen baddies voice them, including Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Lucy Lawless, and Taraji P. Henson, but you don't realize who they are until the credits roll. In terms of visual splendor, director Kyle Balda's film looks good - most CGI at this level does nowadays - but audiences aren't expecting it from the "Minions" film franchise. They're nothing more than smooth blobs, a throwback to classic newspaper comic strips like "Dilbert" or "Peanuts." Not only is it funny, but it's also accessible to all.