Minions

This animation tells the story of the minions trying to look for an evil master in order to keep up their morale. They find a villain called Scarlet Overkill, and the minions are tasked with stealing the crown from the Queen.

I saw the trailer and I thought the "Minions" was so cute. After watching the film, I thought it was even cuter than I expected! The plot is silly but fun. The minions are simple in design, and simple in their thoughts, but they manage to create the funniest situations. There are some jokes that made me laugh out loud, such as the usage of a teapot inside a police car. I also just realised that the minions are not talking unintelligible gibberish - it is actually a mix of languages, which I spotted Spanish, German, Mandarin and Bahasa. I enjoyed watching this animation, it is 90 minutes of brain-off entertainment.

Quickie Review:

Minions from the dawn of time have always searched to serve the most despicable masters in the world. After failing to keep their masters numerous times, the minions feel without purpose. That's when three brave minions, Kevin, Bob, and Stuart set out on a journey to find their new master. Despicable Me franchise has done a lot of things right, one of which that clicked with all ages were the adorable little minions. This film could've been very basic, continuously rehashing a collection slapstick comedy, and just simply depend on the popularity of the minions. Instead, the creators of this film added heart to the characters, delivering a movie that kids will love and adults will have fun with.

Full Review:

As much as I love the minions in the Despicable Me movies, I was quite pessimistic on how good Minions was going to be. It just felt like a cash grab. Of course, all movies aim to grab some cash but this movie in particular felt like the studio was just capitalising on the popularity of the characters. Gratefully, the movie got me to set aside my pessimism.

One of my biggest concerns was whether a collection of side characters can really carry an entire movie. Short answer as it turns out: yes they can. It works because we are focusing on just three minions for the majority of the movie. Each of them have their unique personality that shines through without a single word of comprehensible dialogue. That in itself is an amazing feat, the minion-gibberish is all non-sense and yet I am able to empathise with them. I can't even say the same for actual human actors in other movies sometimes! So in that sense, job well done animators. I also liked the small story arc that was given to the villain of the movie, Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock). She wasn't a villain just for the sake of it, which added another dimension to what could have been a generic character. There is relatable back story to her that made us understand where she was coming from, while still retaining the unpredictable evil-ness.

The movie is not without flaws. There are times where the jokes might be too slapstick for adults to enjoy. These scenes are obviously aimed for the kids. They don't completely alienate us grown-ups but it is still noticeable. On top of that, I have to say I felt the absence of Gru and the kids from the Despicable Me movies. What I love about the minions is their relationship with Gru's family, the pranks, the shenanigans, the care they have for each other, is all so delightful to watch. This absence was bound to happen since we are concentrating on the minions. At the same time, aside from Scarlett Overkill there are no other memorable supporting characters.

Even with the problems, I really did enjoy my time watching Minions. It was a great light hearted, charming, fun movie. If you have little kids, nephews or nieces, don't hesitate to take them to the cinema. They will have an awesome time. Together you too will find some amusing entertainment.

The popularity and the huge profits of Despicable Me franchise has driven the eagerness of Illumination Entertainment to produce a minions spin-off solely to entertain the fans. Caught in variations of the same scenarios, the decision to put more focus on the three minions - Kevin, Stuart and Bob might remind audiences about Alvin and the Chipmunks or the three daughters of Gru. While the animation does remain the fun, hilarious and ridiculous behaviors of the characters, the theme of the scores and the nonsensical language of the minions, it does not have a strong villain to support the three, also it lacks of character development, warm emotional engagement and moral values. The cuteness of the minions is the main element for entertainment rather than the dialogue itself in which the jokes aren't as funny as Despicable Me's series. Nonetheless, it is still energetic, actions packed, visually stunning and colorful for family audiences even its creative mistake drags its overall quality, proving that these banana lovers are far more effective and surprising to be supporting characters just as in the main franchise.

"Minions" doesn't really have anything new to offer, aside from crassly commercializing the yellow side players in the "Despicable Me" movies. You sort of accept that going in. Personally, I've always been fond of the little pill-shaped bastards, which is why I enjoyed this movie. It's 90 minutes of exactly what you'd expect from them and it turns out that's enough to sustain a whole movie. The cast is great, despite the miscast Sandra Bullock (not a slight, I like her) and the humor is just right for a light-as-it-gets Summer movie. The '60s setting also worked surprisingly well.

Honestly, as toy commercials go, you could do a whole lot worse.

7/10

Minions was a pretty good film, I mean the animation was top notch, and the jokes were very good (at some points). The main minions in the film Kevin, Bob and Stuart were fairly funny at times, and the fact that they couldn't speak English added another funny mark to it. If you have seen the Despicable Me franchise, then you probably know who the minions are, but if you haven't seen the Despicable Me franchise, then before you watch Minions, I recommend you see Despicable Me 1 and 2, As that is where they were first introduced to the world. Moving on, some villains in the film, seemed a bit rushed just to get on with the movie, and some of them were unnecessary, but overall they each had their own funny scenes. The main villain Scarlett Overkill, had a crazy personality, and had some good humor which added a nice ring to the film, as well as that the Minions were always there to mess with her, So it was an action packed- family fun film :)

Overall: I recommend you watch this, it has some funny moments and is a perfect spin-off to the Despicable Me franchise. I hope you enjoy the film :)