What’s small, dumb, yellow and… promotes the rule of law? A Minion. In any case, according to the version specially modified for China of the new film of the franchise, which makes triumph the moral.
“Minions 2: Once Upon a Time Gru” was released on August 19 in Chinese theaters. This is the fifth installment in the “Despicable Me” series.
This prequel chronicles the youth of Gru, the super-villain of the franchise. But unlike the other international versions, the one for mainland China offers an alternative conclusion.
The animated film sequences are unaltered, but a series of stills and commentary have been inserted at the end.
In the original film, Gru’s mentor, Will Karnage, an attempted robber, escapes justice following faking his death.
But in the version released in mainland China, the character is caught by the police and sentenced to 20 years in prison, where, calmed down, he continues “his passion for acting” by “setting up a theater troupe”, underlines the end text.
As for Gru, he’s become a role model father and has “gone back on the right track,” the alternate ending claims, ignoring the reality of previous films in the franchise.
Television and film works, both Chinese and foreign, must go through a censorship committee before they can be broadcast in China.
It is thus not the first time that a foreign film has been modified to conform to what the authorities present as more “healthy” values - in particular for productions intended for young audiences.
Earlier this year, the end of David Fincher’s cult film “Fight Club” (1999), starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, was also modified for its broadcast on the Chinese platform Tencent Video.
Again, the police had thwarted the macabre plans of the protagonist, indicated a text at the end of the film.
The return to China, on a streaming platform, of the American TV series “Friends” in February had also caused incomprehension from spectators, who had noticed that dialogues evoking the homosexuality of a character had been deleted.
It was not immediately clear if the ending of “Minions 2” in mainland China was changed at the request of the censors or the production.
