After seeing 2010’s “Despicable Me” the first of several times, I knew that supervillain turned Superdad Gru’s little yellow assistants, the Minions, were destined to star in their own movie. Five years later, “Minions” puts the title characters front and center. Unfortunately, the film falls short on the fun meter.
“Minions” is a prequel to “Despicable Me”. As narrator Geoffrey Rush explains, “Minions have been on this planet far longer than humans have”. And over thousands of years, they have served under numerous masters – all of them dying in “epic fail” fashion…because of the Minions. By the time we reach 1968, the setting for this story, the Minions are bored, living alone in an icy cave. But a trio of heroes decide to change that: Kevin, Stuart and Bob decide to venture back out into the world to find a new, evil boss for the group to follow.
Eventually, the trio meets-up with Scarlet Overkill, who, at the time, is the #1 villain on the planet. She’s voiced by Sandra Bullock. They all end-up in jolly ol’ England, where Overkill asks the Minions to do her a favor…or else.
Unfortunately, the Overkill character suffers from “just that“, as she’s involved way too much in this “Minions” story. She’s the main human, but very one-note, and doesn’t provide laughs or add to the fun in any way when on-screen. She’s a major let-down compared to Gru from the previous films. In fact, her husband, the hippie-vibe Herb, is a much better character, voiced by an almost unrecognizable Jon Hamm.
The strength of “Minions”, not surprisingly, comes from the Minions themselves. They’re caught-up in many over-the-top and entertaining hijinks and poke fun at targeted material in just the right way. The film nicely goes back and forth between the adventures of Kevin, Stuart and Bob and the laugh-out-loud escapades of the other Minions waiting at home.
Michael Keaton and Allison Janney provide some more laughs as the parents of a unique family who befriends the trio on their journey. And there are some clever touches and references to the original “Despicable Me”. However, a couple of the story elements are surprisingly weak and far-fetched, including an extensive, action-filled finale.
For some reason, the filmmakers didn’t feel confident enough to make a 90-minute all-Minions movie, which could have included three or four satirical, supporting supervillains from all-over the globe. The Minions do shine here, but not bright (yellow) enough.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Minions” gets a B-.
Running Time: 91 min.