Minions Action: The Rise of Gru takes place mainly in San Francisco, and the animated sequel continues a common mistake in cinema regarding the geography of the city. Following on from the hugely popular 2015 film Minions, which itself is a prequel to the Despicable Me animated film franchise, Minions: The Rise of Gru follows the titular yellow henchmen in their early years with the supervillain Gru. After the abduction of young Gru, several of his henchmen go to San Francisco to rescue their miniature boss.
One of these minions, Otto, embarks on a solo journey to a city in Northern California. But first he meets up with a biker in Death Valley, located hundreds of miles southeast of San Francisco. Halfway through the hugely successful Minions: The Rise of Gru Otto is invited to ride this man’s motorcycle to their destination, and eventually they are seen entering the city over the Golden Gate Bridge.
The problem with Otto and a biker riding over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in Minions: The Rise of Gru, is that the duo arrives from the south, and the Golden Gate Bridge enters San Francisco from the north. However, this is not just an annoying stupidity on the part of the filmmakers, as countless films and TV shows are filmed in the city, and most of them make the same common mistake: the characters enter San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, despite arriving. from the south or east.
Why is the mistake in the movie “Golden Gate Bridge” so common
The reason for the direction error in “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and in many other films and TV shows set in San Francisco is simple. Landmarks are important for location determination in visual storytelling, and the Golden Gate Bridge is undoubtedly San Francisco’s most famous landmark. The most likely ways to enter San Francisco from the south are up the coast and along the San Francisco Peninsula, which connects directly, without a bridge, to the city. This is also how visitors get to San Francisco from the city’s main airport. Another way is via the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which enters the city from the east side of San Francisco Bay. Neither the roadways of the peninsula nor the bridge over the bay are as cinematic or iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge.
Why the mistake in the movie “Golden Gate Bridge” is a problem
Showing viewers the wrong way to travel to San Francisco from the south can cause them to get lost if they ever want to travel on their own. All these iconic Minions fans: The Rise of Gru can now get confused and wonder why they don’t drive through the Golden Gate Bridge and turn off their route. Or they will continue driving from San Francisco to the North Bay, thinking that they need to get to the Golden Gate Bridge, even after they have already arrived in the city. Another reason why this common mistake in movies and TV shows is a problem is that it will lead to the disappointment of viewers who have become tourists when they find out that they cannot get into the city via the Golden Gate Bridge on their travels from the south or east. .
How “Minions 2” could fix the mistake of the movie “Golden Gate Bridge”
In fact, there is a possibility that the strangely popular “Minions: The Rise of Gru” is not wrong in depicting Otto and a biker driving into San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge. The duo could actually drive from Death Valley north to San Francisco and then drive along the coast. This could explain another obvious mistake when they are driving along the coast of California, and the water is to their right. If they drive north along the coast, the ocean will be to their left. So maybe they were driving south along the coast instead. Of course, that would mean that Otto and the biker had unnecessarily traveled the long way to San Francisco from Death Valley in Minions: The Rise of Gru and would have used the Golden Gate Bridge to enter the city. This is a possible explanation for the error, but extremely unlikely.
