Minions: The Rise Of Gru Footage Reaction: Yep, This One Has A Cheese Gun [CinemaCon 2022]

We're barreling through footage from upcoming films at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, and our own Ben Pearson is on the ground taking notes so it feels like we're right there in the audience with him. The next film in the footage parade is Illumination Entertainment's "Minions: The Rise of Gru." The film was supposed to hit theaters in July of 2020, but the pandemic delayed it a year ... and then another. Now we're getting a look this coming July at how Gru became so despicable (and adorable) in the prequel to both the "Despicable Me" and "Minions" franchises. 

Back to voice Minions Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto (and others) is French animator and director Pierre Coffin. Steve Carell will again voice Gru, though he'll be playing a younger version of the character. Russell Brand returns as Dr. Nefario. For the Vicious 6 we have Alan Arkin as Wild Knuckles, the former leader of the gang. Taraji P. Henson is Belle Bottom who has taken over leadership. Jean-Claude Van Damme is Jean Clawed (who has lobster claws, because of course he does). Lucy Lawless is Nunchuck (and yes, she is a nun). Dolph Lundgren is Svengeance. Danny Trejo is Stronghold. Michelle Yeoh will play Master Chow, Julie Andrews will play Gru's mom (lucky Gru), and RZA will play a role that we don't have info for yet. 

Here's a breakdown of the footage we saw.

Steve Carell appeared onstage at CinemaCon 2022 to present footage for his upcoming film. He clearly has a lot of self-deprecating affection for his character, poking fun at the accent. 

The footage itself suggests that the upcoming movie will be zany. We see Minions piloting an airliner, while making announcements to the passengers in their distinctive Minion speech. A female Minion is giving peanuts to the human passengers (I guess they still gave out peanuts in the 1970s?) — then, we see them actually flying the plane. In another shot, a young Gru (Carell) gets on a motorized bike, and a woman tries to destroy the Minions, who don't seem to be able to be harmed. Then Gru creates a cheese ray(!) and shoots people waiting in line with liquid cheese. A weapon both useful and tasty.Then we head back to the plane, and the Minions land the flight in San Francisco after a wild ride across the skies. Looks like there was turbulence, and one of the Minions heads into the airplane bathroom to throw up, but his uniform gets sucked into the toilet, because of course it does.

Here's the official synopsis for "Minions: The Rise of Gru" from Illumination Entertainment:

In the heart of the 1970s, amidst a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru (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 back-up 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, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.

"Minions: The Rise of Gru" will hit theaters on July 1, 2022.