Minions - Review

Back in 2010, a little animated film from Universal was released to moviegoers called Despicable Me. The movie, about a supervillain named Gru who changes his ways after adopting three young girls, became something of a monster hit with audiences (and many critics). While I personally don't think it holds up among the greatest of animated films, I won't deny it was an enjoyable movie. Sure the premise was hardly original and the story was predictable as hell, but the animation was creative, the characters were memorable, Steve Carell gave a fun vocal performance as Gru, and yeah... the movie was damn funny. The breakout characters, however, were Gru's goofy looking, gibberish speaking, minion side characters called... well the Minions. They've become something of an major merchadise institution lately and have been a popular on social media's meme scene lately. When 2013's sequel, Despicable Me 2, turned out to be just as good and an even bigger box office hit, it became clear that the first film's success was no fluke and the minions weren't going anywhere anytime soon.. So now, we got Despicable Me 3 right? Well... not yet, that'll come in a few years. Until then, we got a spin-off/prequel attempting to capitalize off the success of Gru's loyal minions titled... again just Minions. Okay then, so how's the movie?

The Minions, of course, are the small, yellow, gibberish speaking creatures from the first two films who, as indicated by this film, have existed since the beginning of time for one purpose... to loyally serve the most evil, notorious, and despicable villain they can find. Despite their best efforts, however, most of their masters have ended up dead due to the minions' overall incompetence. Still determined to find the perfect leader, three of the minions, Kevin, Stuart, and Bob set sail to the United States in 1968. While traveling, they meet up with Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the self proclaimed "world's greatest supervillain," who might be what they were looking for.

So right up front, how is Minions? It's........ just okay. I wouldn't call it a bad movie, but it's a definite step down from the previous two films and an overall disposable effort. I'll be honest, when I first heard the minions were getting their own movie, I wasn't convinced that was the best move. Oh sure, they were fun as the goofy comic relief side characters in the Despicable Me films, but most sequels/spin-offs that have the comic relief supporting characters take center stage often don't work. Still, you can make a good movie out of anything... even movies with gibberish speaking creatures heavy on personality but light on actual character. Look at the recent Shaun The Sheep movie, a stop motion film free of dialogue... and it was great! Minions though... well let's dig a little deeper.

Before I dig deeper into this movie, I want to restate one thing... I LIKE THE FIRST TWO MOVIES. They were funny, clever, and surprisingly heartfelt. The Minions themselves, however, were not my favorite part of those films. Don't get me wrong, they were fun characters, and they definitely did contribute to a few of the films' biggest laughs, but the reason they worked is because they were mostly pushed off to the side and kept to a minimum. They weren't overplayed, instead we got just enough of them to be funny but not annoying. Honestly, the Despicable Me films' biggest successes came from Carrel's performance and the touching story between him and his relationship with his adoptive daughters (the Minions, while fun, were mostly just along for the ride). I'll admit the Minions in the spin-off aren't NEARLY as annoying or overbearing as I initially feared, but by taking away the heart of the previous two films and replacing it with just more slapstick, that's already a pretty major step down.

Of course, all of what I just mentioned could be over-looked if the movie at least delivered in other areas, in this case the humor. Unfortunately, while the movie is funny, it's not THAT funny, and definitely not funny enough to make up for what was missed. Yes, the Minions famous speech patterns are cute, but they don't sustain laughs throughout the whole film. Sandra Bullock's performance as Scarlett Overkill gets a few laughs, but she comes off as too one-note and predictable (and not nearly as funny as Steve Carrel). That opening montage sequence seen in the trailers with the Minions accidentally killing their numerous masters is... actually that part was hilarious! It's an oddly dark bit of humor for a family film, but definitely one of the film's stand-out moments. Actually, when the film goes to slightly darker places, including a scene were three of the Minions hitch a ride from a family of aspiring supervillains, that it really gets the biggest laughs. When it plays it safer and more kid-friendly, that's when it becomes more hit-and-miss (yes, I know it's a kids film, but still). On an unrelated note, I will say I did enjoy the soundtrack composed mostly of classic rock.

So overall, how does Minions fare out? It's... not a bad movie, but not good enough to recommend for anyone over the age of 10. It's cute, it's harmless, and it's been out of theaters for months now, so you probably already know whether you've decided to rent it for your next family movie night. But if you haven't seen it yet, and your kids are begging to buy/rent this one... you could definitely do better, but also could do much worse.

I give Minions 2.5 out of 5!