We were greatly anticipating the release of the this movie. We are both fans of the previous two Despicable Me movies and were excited to see what the Minions would do in their own movie.
In this movie we see how the minions came to be. The minions live to serve, and they want to serve the biggest and baddest villain. Since their beginning they jumped from one master to the next, from the T-Rex, to the caveman, to Napoleon until they find themselves lost and alone in a snow storm during battle. They come across an underground ice cave and build a village there. The minions are happy there for years, recreating with one another, but as time goes on without a master to serve, the minions fall into a deep depression. Finally one minion, Kevin, volunteers to leave the cave to find a new “big boss” to work for. He recruits two of his fellow minions, Stuart and Bob, and they set forth on their journey. They cross land and sea until finally reaching civilization in New York City in the 1960’s. After seeing a tv commercial for Villain Con, they hitch a ride to Orlando, Florida with a seemingly normal family, The Nelsons, who turn out to be criminals.
At the convention the Minions win the opportunity to work for the first female super villain Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock). Scarlett takes Kevin, Stuart and Bob back with her to her home in London, England and Kevin sends word for the rest of the minions to meet them there. In London, Scarlett’s husband, Herb (Jon Hamm), who is an inventor, outfits the minions with weapons for their assignment, to steal the Queen of England’s Crown. In the midst of their failing mission, while running from the Palace guards, Bob, using a mechanical suit, pulls the infamous Sword from the stone and becomes crowned King of England. Scarlett becomes enraged with the minions, feeling betrayed and hoodwinked, she goes on the warpath seeking revenge. Kevin, Stuart and Bob, convince Scarlett they weren’t trying to steal the crown and throne from her, and Bob relinquishes the title to her. Scarlet accepts the crown and title but then throws Kevin, Bob and Stuart in the torture dungeon to rot. The guys are able to escape and end up accidentally dropping a large chandelier on Scarlett at her coronation ceremony. Thinking the minions just tried to kill her, Scarlett is determined to now kill the three minions.
What We Liked:
Our favorite part of the movie was the introduction of young Gru, who swoops in at the end and steals the Royal Crown right out of the hands of Scarlett Overkill. The minions have finally found the perfect “big boss” with Gru and eagerly follow him as he escapes. The introduction of young Gru in this movie could be read as as wither the biggest fan pander or the set-up for yet another prequel that will bridge the gap between Minions and Despicable Me. We’d like to see that movie. In fact, that story should have been the plot of this movie.
What We Didn’t Like:
We were not too happy with the Theory of Evolution being worked into the beginning of the movie. Also, it was not always easy to understand, what the minions were supposed to be saying. Minionese was tollerable and even cute in the small portions of the Despicable Me movies, but to have a whole movie where the main characters spoke an indistinguishable language was a big stretch that failed.
2.5
Summary
Now, we are not saying at all that Minions is a bad movie. As as effort in pure animated escapism released at the height of the summer its arguably better than expected, but also without the emotional center needed to give people a reason to feel engaged with the narrative there is little reason to ever wish to go on this adventure again. The other films, in which these characters have appeared in did such an incredible job of making you feel for everyone onscreen, including Despicable Gru. That type of magic is nowhere to be found in this movie. Despite the few good laughs we had, this movie also got a little boring at times. The bright colors and light music will probably keep children entertained, but it wasn’t enough for us. We think the producers could have done a much better job.
