Listen, we need to level with you here: Tween Gru and his little Minions are actually kind of adorable. We know. No one is more shocked than we are about the situation in this trailer for Minions: The Rise Of Gru, which gives Steve Carell’s cartoon villain his very own origin story set in the righteous ’70s. Maybe it’s the accent, which just sounds cuter when it’s funneled through a helium machine and coming out of the mouth of a cartoon kid instead of a grown-ass cartoon man. Maybe it’s the moment when a Minion falls in love with a googly-eyed pet rock. Maybe it’s a primitive response to hearing the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.” Some thing are inexplicable, but we know this to be true: Tiny Gru and his Minions are a bunch of lil cuties.
Minions: The Rise Of Gru introduces some new characters to the Minion-verse by way of a delightful group known as the Vicious 6: Belle Bottom (Taraji P. Henson), Jean Clawed (Jean-Claude Van Damme, of course), Nunchuck (Lucy Lawless), Svengeance (Dolph Lundgren), and Stronghold (Danny Trejo). If nothing else, maybe this silly movie will get kids interested in classic… you know what, screw it. Let them have their fun. Here’s the official synopsis for the prequel, which arrives this summer and features an era-appropriate soundtrack from Jack Antonoff, of all people:
In the heart of the 1970s, amid a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru (Oscar® nominee Steve Carell) is growing up in the suburbs. A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. Luckily, he gets some mayhem-making backup from his loyal followers, the Minions. Together, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto—a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please—deploy their skills as they and Gru build their first lair, experiment with their first weapons and pull off their first missions.
When the Vicious 6 oust their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Oscar® winner Alan Arkin), Gru interviews to become their newest member. It doesn’t go well (to say the least), and only gets worse after Gru outsmarts them and suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. On the run, Gru will turn to an unlikely source for guidance, Wild Knuckles himself, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.