The following article contains spoilers for Minions: The Rise of Gru.By now, most people are familiarized with China and the Chinese Communist Party's strict censorship practices, which severely limit what type of films enter the country. However, in its latest attempt, Minions: The Rise of Gru suffered an unexpected plot twist.
As reported by Reuters, over the weekend many social media users based in China took to Weibo, the mainland’s equivalent of Twitter, to voice their displeasure over the changes made to the film that drastically alter its ending. Indeed, Chinese viewers were treated to a special addendum of sorts where Wild Knuckles is depicted as being caught by authorities and then serving a 20-year prison sentence, while Gru's redemption takes place quite instantly to become a family man whose “biggest accomplishment is being the father to his three girls."
In the original cut of Minions: The Rise of Gru, a prequel to the Despicable Me saga, future villain Gru rides off into the sunset with his pal Wild Knuckles. This occurs after the latter fakes his own death to evade the hands of justice, which makes sense within the franchise’s narrative. To makes matter worse, it’s not as if The Rise of Gru is the first movie from the franchise to land in China, as both Despicable Me 2 and 3, plus the Minions prequel, all has successful releases featuring Illumination's colorful cast of characters.
Many Chinese citizens criticized the changes, not only due to the nature of its content but also because of how the extra content was added through images that seem almost taken from a PowerPoint presentation. One prominent Chinese reviewer who goes by the name DuSir on Weibo noted, "It's only us who need special guidance and care, for fear that a cartoon will 'corrupt' us." This all further drives home the idea of how odd it is that an animated film would need such alterations in the eyes of censors to ensure viewers see Gru as an upstanding citizen and family man.
The stern policies of Chinese censors have recently claimed David Fincher's Fight Club amongst its latest victims, with the film’s Chinese version passing out a similarly strong sentence to its protagonist that was criticized by original author Chuck Palahniuk. Despite both Universal and Huaxia (the Chinese distributor) declining to comment, the trend speaks to a growing level of closure from local authorities towards imported cultural works.
For example, Avengers: Endgame was the last MCU production to release in China, with the presumed reason for blocking content expanding further beyond past standards. On the other hand, all of Top Gun: Maverick's commercial milestones came without the help of the Chinese market.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is now available digitally in North America.
Source: Reuters, thestranger515 | Twitter