Minions - directed by Kyle Balda & Pierre Coffin
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Allison Janney, Jennifer Saunders, Geoffrey Rush, Steve Carell, Katy Mixon
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rated: PG - Cartoon violence and a butt shot
My appreciation for Despicable Me came late.
The original 2010 movie just didn't appeal to me and it wasn't until a couple of years later when I saw it by accident at an outdoor movie event that I realised how mistaken I had been.
By the time the even better sequel arrived in 2013 I was an avid fan.
Minions - the supporting characters who were became audience favourites make me laugh merely by sight.
They are brilliantly designed and even better executed.
The Backstreet Boys music scene in "Despicable Me 2" came close to bringing me to tears.
Now instead of invaluable contribution in a larger tale the little yellow googly eyed Minions have a movie all of their own.
It does make you wonder if this could be too much of a good thing.
After all they don't have dialogue as such.
All well and good when they are the supporting cast - how about when they are front and centre and must drive a story?
How do you get around that issue?
The answer in the early stages is that the movie tells a fifteen minute or so origin story using narration.
From out of the depths of the primordial ooze the Minions take up with whatever villain they can - a T-Rex, a Neanderthal, the Ancient Egyptians, Dracula, Napoleon.... all to the same affect.
Their boss is killed thanks to their idiocy.
The story proper begins when the entire Minion population is safe in ice caves but finding life with an evil boss dull and unsatisfying so Kevin, Bob and Stuart set off on a quest to find a new villain to follow.
These early moments are very funny even if you have seen the pre-release trailers a couple of dozen times.
Once the trio find Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) the story takes some turns and not all of them for the better.
Jumping the shark shouldn't be a phrase applicable to a Minions movie but this one comes perilously close.... twice.
It is a problem born out of this being a prequel.
There seems to be a lot going on that doesn't sit with what we have learned in the previous movies which take place well after this one.
The need for some big action-comedy moments results in the script going just that little bit too far then completely stuffing up the payoff.
These concerns pale next to the really problematic issue of this movie not being anywhere near as funny as it should be.
I tend to take it for granted that the Minions as characters will be funny.
Hell, I bought a tin lunchbox filled with popcorn at the screening I attended purely because just the sight of the Minions on it made me laugh.
It baffles me then that I only laughed maybe three times and broke into a smile maybe half a dozen times.
It's not that it isn't amusing - it is.
I just consider amusing the default state of these characters.
Being amusing is something Minions do while they are building to a hilarious moment.
These moments are far too few here.
Voice talent is not nearly as effectively used as it was in the last Despicable Me movie either.
Jon Hamm and Sandra Bullock are not exploited well at all and Steve Coogan is almost totally wasted.
Jennifer Saunders as Queen Elizabeth gets a better deal however.
I wasn't aware of too many other stars - a symptom of them being secondary to the Minions.
At least the animation is on top form.
Visually this is unsurprisingly a treat.
The tech behind "Despicable Me" and "Despicable Me 2" improved very noticeably and it has again with "Minions".
Some scenes - notably late in the film- are damned near photo realistic.
The lighting, texturing and depth of field rendering is incredible.
The technical wizardry behind this film is beyond reproach but I wish the script was a little tighter.
The concern that the Minions are better as supporting characters and are not strong enough for their own story was not addressed and it needed to be.
There is no strong central story here or at least not one compelling enough to keep things interesting.
I wouldn't argue that the Despicable Me movies had strong plots either but they flowed well and made logical sense.
Scarlet Overkills scheme is ridiculous for an evil genius. The character is underwritten and often her actions don't make sense.
With the Despicable Me movies I was left wanting a little more Minion and that is a good thing.
In "Minions" I constantly wanted more characters to help bolster the story and provide more depth.
It seems an odd complaint for what is ostensibly a fun 'kids' flick but refer to my comments on yesterdays "Inside Out" (link) or of course in the review for "Despicable Me 2" (link).
Both of those manage nicely balanced characters and loads of humour.
I am being hard on this film and I feel a bit bad about it.
I did enjoy it but my expectation was very high and this didn't come close.
When I saw a sneak preview of "Despicable Me 2" it pained me that I had to wait a fortnight for when it started its theatrical run to see it again.
With "Minions" I don't know that I will go again.
If I do I expect the wait to be considerably less painful this time.
RATING: 70 / 100
CONCLUSION: You'd have to do something pretty disastrous to make a bad Minions film- these characters are incredibly funny and rightfully very popular. While this is in no way a 'bad' film it isn't anywhere near the very good one that it should have been.
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rated: PG - Cartoon violence and a butt shot
My appreciation for Despicable Me came late.
The original 2010 movie just didn't appeal to me and it wasn't until a couple of years later when I saw it by accident at an outdoor movie event that I realised how mistaken I had been.
By the time the even better sequel arrived in 2013 I was an avid fan.
Minions - the supporting characters who were became audience favourites make me laugh merely by sight.
They are brilliantly designed and even better executed.
The Backstreet Boys music scene in "Despicable Me 2" came close to bringing me to tears.
Now instead of invaluable contribution in a larger tale the little yellow googly eyed Minions have a movie all of their own.
It does make you wonder if this could be too much of a good thing.
After all they don't have dialogue as such.
All well and good when they are the supporting cast - how about when they are front and centre and must drive a story?
How do you get around that issue?
The answer in the early stages is that the movie tells a fifteen minute or so origin story using narration.
From out of the depths of the primordial ooze the Minions take up with whatever villain they can - a T-Rex, a Neanderthal, the Ancient Egyptians, Dracula, Napoleon.... all to the same affect.
Their boss is killed thanks to their idiocy.
The story proper begins when the entire Minion population is safe in ice caves but finding life with an evil boss dull and unsatisfying so Kevin, Bob and Stuart set off on a quest to find a new villain to follow.
These early moments are very funny even if you have seen the pre-release trailers a couple of dozen times.
Once the trio find Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) the story takes some turns and not all of them for the better.
Jumping the shark shouldn't be a phrase applicable to a Minions movie but this one comes perilously close.... twice.
It is a problem born out of this being a prequel.
There seems to be a lot going on that doesn't sit with what we have learned in the previous movies which take place well after this one.
The need for some big action-comedy moments results in the script going just that little bit too far then completely stuffing up the payoff.These concerns pale next to the really problematic issue of this movie not being anywhere near as funny as it should be.
I tend to take it for granted that the Minions as characters will be funny.
Hell, I bought a tin lunchbox filled with popcorn at the screening I attended purely because just the sight of the Minions on it made me laugh.
It baffles me then that I only laughed maybe three times and broke into a smile maybe half a dozen times.
It's not that it isn't amusing - it is.
I just consider amusing the default state of these characters.
Being amusing is something Minions do while they are building to a hilarious moment.
These moments are far too few here.
Voice talent is not nearly as effectively used as it was in the last Despicable Me movie either.
Jon Hamm and Sandra Bullock are not exploited well at all and Steve Coogan is almost totally wasted.
Jennifer Saunders as Queen Elizabeth gets a better deal however.
I wasn't aware of too many other stars - a symptom of them being secondary to the Minions.
At least the animation is on top form.
Visually this is unsurprisingly a treat.
The tech behind "Despicable Me" and "Despicable Me 2" improved very noticeably and it has again with "Minions".
Some scenes - notably late in the film- are damned near photo realistic.
The lighting, texturing and depth of field rendering is incredible.
The technical wizardry behind this film is beyond reproach but I wish the script was a little tighter.
The concern that the Minions are better as supporting characters and are not strong enough for their own story was not addressed and it needed to be.
There is no strong central story here or at least not one compelling enough to keep things interesting.
I wouldn't argue that the Despicable Me movies had strong plots either but they flowed well and made logical sense.
Scarlet Overkills scheme is ridiculous for an evil genius. The character is underwritten and often her actions don't make sense.
With the Despicable Me movies I was left wanting a little more Minion and that is a good thing.
In "Minions" I constantly wanted more characters to help bolster the story and provide more depth.
It seems an odd complaint for what is ostensibly a fun 'kids' flick but refer to my comments on yesterdays "Inside Out" (link) or of course in the review for "Despicable Me 2" (link).
Both of those manage nicely balanced characters and loads of humour.
I am being hard on this film and I feel a bit bad about it.
I did enjoy it but my expectation was very high and this didn't come close.
When I saw a sneak preview of "Despicable Me 2" it pained me that I had to wait a fortnight for when it started its theatrical run to see it again.
With "Minions" I don't know that I will go again.
If I do I expect the wait to be considerably less painful this time.
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