Minions: The Rise of Gru Is Being Review Bombed With Perfect Scores on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb

By Jamie Lovett

Minions: The Rise of Gru is breaking records in its opening weekend over the Fourth of July holiday. It's also getting a little extra support from fans (possibly the same fans wearing suits to screenings) review-bombing -- or rather, reverse review-bombing -- the film on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. Typically, review bombing a movie means going to these sites and giving the film a low fan rating regardless of whether the reviewer has actually seen the movie. The opposite is happening with Minions: The Rise of Gru. People are going to these sites to pump up the film's overall audience score with perfect ratings, either 10-out-of-10 on IMDb or 5-out-of-5 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Some are then heading over to social media to encourage others to follow suit. One example reads, "Everyone, go to IMDb and give "Minions:The Rise of Gru" a rating of 10. Also go to Rotten Tomatoes to give the film either 5 out of 5 and 10 out of 10. #TheRiseofGru #Minions #peakcinema #Cinema"

Thus far the campaign has been seen some success. On IMDB, Minions: The Rise of Gru has a weighted average vote of 7.2/10. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an audience score of 92% compared to the Tomatometer score of 72%. Its critical consensus on the site reads, "The Minions' antic shenanigans are beginning to grate despite this sequel's injection of retro chic, although this loony marathon of gags will still delight young children."

The enthusiasm appears to be ironic. The Minions have come to represent a broad brand of humor in popular culture through memes and the ability easily alter their simple designs. The push to give it a higher rating seems to be about championing low-brow movies over high-art cinema, but mostly about LOLs. 

Minions: The Rise of Gru is the second Minions movie, a sequel to the original, the second prequel to Despicable Me, and the fifth Despicable Me movie overall. According to the synopsis, "In the 1970s, young Gru tries to join a group of supervillains called the Vicious 6 after they oust their leader -- the legendary fighter Wild Knuckles. When the interview turns disastrous, Gru and his Minions go on the run with the Vicious 6 hot on their tails. Luckily, he finds an unlikely source for guidance -- Wild Knuckles himself -- and soon discovers that even bad guys need a little help from their friends."

Minions: The Rise of Gru is now playing in theaters. 

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