Minions

Sometimes too much of a good thing can decrease its appeal.

Many people have fallen in love with the "minions" from both Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2.

For good reason too. They are a incredibly entertaining group of supporting characters and are equal parts funny and cute, with their language, Minionese, that is a combination of several languages from around the world + a ton of gibberish making 90% of what they say impossible to understand, but also funny. They play fairly large roles in both Despicable Me films, and given how much they've taken off with nearly every age group (in my college days I saw more than a few females dressed as minions for Halloween) it's really no surprise that they got their own spinoff film. 

"Shabba deep, BOO YA!! Ha ha!"

Honestly, I skip many animated films throughout the year. I obviously try and see the true gems (i.e. Inside Out and The LEGO Movie) but, much like the horror genre, I skip the middle-of-the-road ones. More often than not, these include a lot of offshoot animated films, very similar to Minions. They are branches of side characters from more successful (and better) animated films that, aside from hilarious trailers, are just cash grabs. I gave Minions a chance because the little guys are so unique and fun to watch that I thought to myself, "If any side character can support their own film, it would be them."

Thankfully, I wasn't entirely wrong, but Minions, like many of it's peers, still isn't as good as the source material that it came from.

"Scarlet, cama paso...bottom! Hehe"

The film starts out strong, with virtually the same footage that we've seen in the trailers, of the minions' beginnings and history. Some of the funniest moments in the film are here and had this been a 15 minute short film, it would have been nearly perfect. The yellow dudes are still extremely cute, and their inability to speak full, English sentences hindered the film a lot less than I had predicted. After the intro it's clear that the minions need a new, evil master to follow so Kevin, Stuart, and Bob (who's absolutely adorable and destined to be the fan-favorite) set out find their new master. The film continues to be relatively entertaining during this process as they attend "Villain-Con" and meet Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock). One thing leads to another (this is pretty much all in the trailer) and they attempt to steal the Queen of England's crown for Scarlet. If I had to pick the exact moment where the film goes from being "great" to "ok/good", it would be after this sequence where the film really just plays itself out in clichéd fashion, but one that is still entertaining for the younger audience in the theater. After the crown heist I found myself checking the time regularly and it brought forward another point to my mind that the film's pacing was a bit off. Granted it's only 91 minutes long so I can't complain about it being too long, but by the time the final 20 minutes hit, it felt longer than it really was.

"OOOOO ba-na-na! Mapa sow. Mapa sow!"

I also found the human element to the film to be poorly implemented. Other than Sandra Bullock and kinda-sorta John Hamm, the voice cast is woefully underutilized and neither of those previously mentioned actors really have a truly memorable character. Scarlet Overkill is pretty impressive at first, but like the film itself, she becomes her own cliché by the end of it all. Fortunately, the little guys themselves are darn hilarious and I was surprised that I didn't find their antics got all that old, although I'm sure if I were to watch it a second time I'd beg to differ. Some of the funniest moments are unfortunately ruined in the trailers, but there are still some gems scattered throughout and I laughed out loud (or "lol'd" for all the youngins out there) on a handful of occasions.

The animation, as is the case most of the time these days, is also really strong. Not nearly as jaw-dropping as Inside Out's, but impressive nonetheless, especially during some of the film's fun action sequences. And, as is the case with the Despicable Me films, the chosen soundtrack for the film is insanely on point and I found myself tapping my foot more than once to the well-curated music selection.

"Oooo la la mama cita papa gayna!"

Minions is a cash grab, but it's also harmless fun so it's hard to be too critical of it. I wish it had set out to be a little more than it was, but the fact that it doesn't isn't all that surprising. Parents will enjoy it (assuming they like these little guys to begin with) and kids will quite literally lose their s**t over it. I'm pretty sure one kid almost died from laughing so hard in my theater.

As for me? It made me laugh and I can definitely think of worse ways to spend a Saturday late morning/early afternoon. But I can also think of better ways.

CONS:

• Plays out almost exactly like you would expect. There are no surprises to be had here
• The human characters start strong but I found they ultimately fell flat
• Underutilized voice actors
• Some pacing issues
• Trailer spoiled some of the film's best laughs
• Film dips in quality after crown heist scene (basically the final third)

PROS:

• Harmless fun that most of the family will enjoy
• If you loved these characters before, you'll love them here. They are still their cute/hilarious selves
• A few of the running gags are really funny
• Strong trio of little dudes with Kevin, Stuart, and my favorite, Bob
• Great soundtrack that fits the film's time period
• Strong beginning and pretty great middle each have some memorable scenes
• Kids will love it

Rath's Review Score: 7/10