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| The endearing minions have gotten their own movie now, with Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin's Minions |
After the runaway success of the good Despicable Me (2010) and the even better Despicable Me 2 (2013) about the life of super-villain Gru and his family, this spin-off prequel has been devised, about the origins of Gru's yellow minion helpers.
The minions have been around much longer than man, but have always have a hard time finding a master to serve. In 1968, they come to attend a 'Villain-Con' in Florida and discover the evil Scarlet Overkill, whom they begin to serve.
Sandra Bullock (Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men (2007-15)) are Mrs. and Mr. Overkill, two characters who are generally a lot less fun than the ones seen earlier, especially in Despicable Me 2. And none of the other voice actors stand out in any way, good or bad. The film is plenty loud though... (A warning to adults with burgeoning head-aches!)
Minions manages to produce other laughs from the minions' use and misuse of weapons and other props, the depiction of times, cultural icons and the satirizing of one nation in particular, (England.)
The details:
Still, Minions is a cup of thin soup, and it is obvious that the job of making an engaging story out of the small fellows, who all look nearly totally alike and speak gibberish, has been a nut that's been too hard to crack for screenwriter Brian Lynch (Hop (2011)). The film is a lot more childish than the Despicable Me movies, which are good entertainment for the whole family. Minions is mainly a kids movie.
The animation is fine, if nothing revolutionary, but the 3D is not really worth purchasing for this film, (unless your kids absolutely MUST have it.) There's something about the emotive faces and eyes of the minions that is extremely recognizable, sometimes in a childish way, and sometimes simply in a human way. This is probably what has made them the surprisingly pervasive mass-cultural success that they are, one of the top-selling, global merchandises of these years.
Minions is directed by Kyle Balda (The Lorax (2012)) and Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me 2), who also voices the minions. Unsurprisingly, a Despicable Me 3 (2017) is already announced. Whether there will also be a Minions 2 is too early to say yet.
Related review:
Despicable Me 2 (2013) - Fun craziness for everyone
Watch the trailer for the movie here
Cost: 74 mil. $
Box office: 141.7 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say
[But there's no doubt that Minions, which has garnered good reviews, will be a huge moneymaker, both theatrically and in terms of auxiliary products (games, clothes, toys, foods etc.), which may very well make more money than the actual film.]
What do you think of Minions?
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