By Whether or not you’ve seen the Despicable Me movies, you definitely know who these little twinkie looking guys are. Perfectly designed to appeal to almost every demographic (a Xanax like shape, a bright and happy yellow, speaking in a faux Spanish/English which pretty much means nothing), the little buggers have taken over pop culture the last few years. It’s caused quite a divide among the public.
Most people were ready to be done with the little guys way before the announcement of their spin-off, so I’m sure they want to see Minions crash and burn. Unfortunately for those folks, in Minions they’re larger than ever.
Minions
Directors: Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda
Rated: PG
Release Date: July 10, 2015
Before the minions found Gru from the Despicable Me movies, they were a species who’ve existed since the dawn of time. Attaching themselves to whatever evil creature they could find, they tried to serve as the best henchman they could until their boss’ inevitable end. Lost and listless, minions Kevin, Stuart, and Bob set out across the world in order to find a new boss. That search leads them to Scarlet and Herb Overkill (Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm) the top of the villain food chain who want to steal the Queen of England’s crown. All of this, of course, leads to the same kind of yellow tinged shenanigans you know and possibly love.
When this was first announced, I had a few hang ups. I really enjoyed the Despicable Me films, but the minions were always a side bit that I never quite attached to. Originally written into the films in order to make Gru more likable, they’re the epitome of easy kids’ jokes. Burps, farts, and pure gibberish designed to make kids laugh and provide nothing more than an annoyance for the adults watching the films (which actually have a well crafted narrative of parenthood and coming to grips with sacrificing your dreams in order to support your children’s future), so I worried that spinning them off into their own narrative would only highlight their hollow design. And that’s kind of true here. Thankfully, there’s at least an attempt to give Minions the same amount of heart as the rest of the series.
Once you get used to the long stretches of minion language-less dialogue, there’s some nice character development here…but you’ve got to figure it out for yourself. Kevin, Stuart, and Bob all have some unique personality traits (Kevin is the responsible one, Stuart is the party one, and Bob is the young and cuddly one) but don’t go further than the surface level. Geared more toward children than ever, this film is light in both plot and all-ages humor. Thankfully the film is just a breeze, and it’s over way before you start thinking about it. At the very least, the main trio is built well enough that you’ll emotionally invest in them long enough to follow through the film’s short stint. Though I’m sure these minions are reaching a point of diminishing returns (hopefully there’s no plan to keep these solo films going) that their shenanigans won’t be able to sustain a film on their own much longer. This one’s barely held together by the skin of its teeth.
The human cast is fantastic, and they’re a breath of fresh air in between all of the shenanigans. Sandra Bullock and Jon Ham completely commit to the film’s nutty nature, and both of them need more roles where they’re allowed to chew the scenery as goofy bad guys. Bullock seems to enjoy her role the most, but close runner ups are folks like Michael Keaton and Alison Janney who’re criminally underutilized. Maybe casting such big names just to give them a bit part is part of the film’s slight meta humor. But that might be giving the film too much credit.
At the end of the day, Minions isn’t made for you or me, but for the kids. But as I’ve argued every time I review one of these animated films, it’s time to expect better for your kids. Sure not every animated film can, or needs to be, like Pixar, but if we keep paying for things like this they’ll keep churning them out for an easy buck.
It’s a flavor of the month film that’ll definitely be forgotten once the next big cute thing comes along. Minions is not as terrible as I expected, but it’s far from great.
But whatever, your kids’ll love how cute it is.