As a sequel to a spin-off of a franchise that itself already spawned several follow-ups, we'd guess that the prevailing opinion about Minions 2: The Rise Of Gru could be, "why does this exist again?" But there's no denying the appeal of the little yellow fellows ($1.1 billion dollars for the first Minions) and this new few looks set to maintain the frenetic, babbling energy. Check out the first trailer, as teased during the Super Bowl this past weekend.
The first film traced the origins of the troublemakers, but this one finds them fully aligned with Gru (Steve Carell), Despicable Me's big bad. Or little bad, in this case, as the plot finds him growing up in the suburbs in the 1970s. 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 (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.
The likes of Taraji P. Henson, Jean-Claude Van Damme (as the lobster claw-sporting Jean Clawed), Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand (back as a young Dr. Nefario), Michelle Yeoh and Julie Andrews voice the villains (or in Andrews' case, Gru's mother), while Kyle Balda directs alongside Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val. It'll be causing chaos in UK cinemas from 10 July.