Review // Minions

[projekktor id=’19925′]

Minions wholly encompasses the saying “always the bridesmaids, never the bride.” The spin-off to the Despicable Me franchise focuses on the fan favourite gibberish speaking, too-cute-to-handle evil henchmen. While the film has its moments, overall it fails to impress with poor character and plot development. While the minions are adorable and continue to generate laughs in the spotlight, the film as a whole is lacking in the heart and substance that made the original franchise so celebrated.

Minions outlines the history of the bizarre creatures, from their prehistoric creation to their life’s ambition: to serve the biggest baddest boss. After a series of failed attempts leads to them almost always destroying their boss, the miniature yellow creatures find solitude in an icy cave hidden in a mysterious mountain range. There they find peace and happiness doing what they like best – singing and playing games – until their lack of purpose spirals the group into a great depression. Determined to save his buddies from their ennui, one minion, Kevin, offers to lead an expedition into the real world to discover a new boss. Joined by the pleasure seeking Stuart and the endearing “baby brother” of the clan Bob, Kevin sets off on an adventure to bring purpose back to the minions.

The trio arrive in New York City in the 60s, a time of revolution, technological innovation and a new breed of bad guy – the Super Villain. Soon they’re on their way to Villian-Con in Orlando to impress the top super villain of the time, Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) and join her employ. Obsessed with England and getting the Queen’s crown Scarlet sends her new henchmen to the Tower of London to steal the precious head piece. After a hilariously bumbled burglary, Bob accidentally pulls Excalibur from it’s stone sheath and he is soon crowned the new King of England. Outraged at their apparent betrayal, Scarlet and her totally groovy inventor husband Herb (Jon Hamm) set their phasers to kill and attempt to annihilate the banana loving sidekicks.

While the plot is fairly thin, and the motivation behind Scarlet’s rage is essentially unfounded – other than she’s a self obsessed lunatic – the main drawback is very little happens. The core of the first two Despicable Me films was the redemption of Gru and his growth as a father. With Minions we don’t see any growth in the characters of minions, even after Scarlet tries to kill them they are still eager to please her as she’s still the biggest villain in town. The sense of brotherhood the minions are known for was strong throughout the film and oddly untouched for dramatic tension or character development. Despite its pitfalls, if you have youngsters who enjoyed the minions in the previous films, they’ll probably get a thrill out of this film. Luckily, it has enough gags for an enjoyable viewing experience.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.