YE’s Minions Review
[yasr_overall_rating]
“Minions” is definitely not the best movie of the year or maybe even the month but it has a few fun moments. The minions’ journey has been quite a strange one, given they started out as side characters to the big bad from the “Despicable Me” franchise. Who would have thought these small pill shaped henchmen would have gotten a movie all their own? But here it is with big star power behind the tiny voices supporting these yellow gems.
“Minions” is a prequel to Despicable Me. It tells the story of how these cute creatures, voiced by French animator Pierre Coffin, search for their ultimate evil master. If you’ve seen Despicable me, you’ll know their ultimate master is Gru, the main character, but before they found their perfect match they went through some duds.
The film starts with narration by Geoffrey Rush, who sets the lay of the land by describing the evolution of minions. They’ve been here since the beginning of time, naturally. They’ve searched for masters in all different corners of history and went through such famous faces as Tyrannosaurus Rex and Dracula. None of the pairings work out though – due to evolution or the minions’ general disaster prone actions. After running out of luck the minions have become isolated until three ambitious heroes among them set out to find the tribe an ultimate master. Kevin, Bob and Stuart are the minion’s last hope to find their place in the world.
They soon learn that there is one place where all the nastiest bad guys get together and talk shop called Villain-Con in Orlando Florida. This is where the minions set their sights on working for the ultimate villain, Scarlet Overkill, voiced by Sandra Bullock. She’s gorgeous and quick witted with big bad plans and joined onscreen by her husband, Herb, voiced by Jon Hamm. The minions want in. They go on a series of misadventures from here that include accidentally becoming rulers of England, haphazardly making enemies with Scarlet Overkill, and a few other hi-jinx. Believe me, those plot twists don’t make sense in context either and while they do give room for a bit of laughter here and there it’s not nearly enough.
Ultimately the problem with this movie is it wasn’t meant to be a full length film. There’s not enough story in the small yellow characters who speak a hodgepodge of all the world’s languages to sustain a feature film. If you were to look at some of the scenes as singular skits they’re definitely funny, but when put together it simply makes for a confusing film full of flat jokes.
The truth about “Minions” is if you go in with proportionate expectations you’ll have a good time. It’s a good film if you need to kill a few hours and don’t want to think too hard. Bring your child, your sibling or the kid your babysitting, but if no one under the age of 12 is with you there’s no place for you in the theater. The comedy isn’t smart except for a few history jokes and a Richard Nixon one liner. Save the time and money, stay home and watch Despicable Me on Netflix.
