Minions
Directors: Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda
Starring: Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton
Three stars
Everyone who saw animated movie Despicable Me and its sequel knows that the real stars were the Minions, those yellow, pill-shaped sidekicks that babble away in the background. Cute, cuddly and utterly marketable, judging by the way they've since endorsed everything from pillowcases to Halloween outfits, a spin-off was inevitable.
This prequel is PG – Pre-Gru, the Minions’ despicable leader in the preceding movies. As we learn from the Geoffrey Rush-narrated intro, the Minions have been around since the dawn of time, looking for villains to serve. A T-Rex, Dracula and Napoleon were all their masters, until the accident-prone Minions killed them all by mistake.
Thankfully, one plucky yellow fella – Kevin – decides to reach out and find his race a new baddie. Joined by two volunteers, the hapless Bob and the guitar-strumming Stuart, this trio set off into the world – arriving in America at the height of flower-power. An early scene when the Minions land in New York and spy a washing-line where they find their signature dungarees is particularly sweet.
Soon enough, they’re attending a villain’s convention and winning a contest to be the next servants to super-baddie Scarlett Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock). Jetting off to London to hook up with Scarlett’s inventor husband Herb (Jon Hamm), the Minions are then instructed to steal the Crown Jewels, with Scarlett harbouring dreams of being a Princess.
Unfortunately, this is where the film derails. Set in 1968, the London sequence, with Brits drinking tea, cheerful policeman and even an Abbey Road-set scene with The Beatles, feels uninspiring. It doesn’t help that Scarlett is a one-dimensional villain, nowhere near as sweet or substantial as Gru (and while Bullock is a fine actress, this is hardly her finest hour).
Far better are the Nelsons, the family of bank-robbers who help the Minions earlier in the film. With father and mother, Walter and Madge, voiced by Michael Keaton and Allison Janney, they’re far more enjoyable than Scarlett – but in the latter part of the film are simply relegated to cheerleading from the sidelines.
The CG animation is bright and breezy but hardly groundbreaking – though Coffin (who again voices the lead Minions) and his co-director Kyle Balda keep the pace cracking along. The sight gags are plentiful, however, from famished Minions imagining their peers as bananas to the sight of Hall H, an oblique reference to the geek’s paradise that is ComicCon.
In truth, the Minions always worked best as a support act, rather than the lead characters. The fact they don't really speak, but burble away in an incoherent language, doesn't help them become amenable lead characters. The action is frenetic, but the real problem is the lack of heart that defined the original Despicable Me films.
The finale boasts a lovely moment that almost rescues it, but it’s never quite enough. While kids will delight in these critters and their acrobatic antics, how much they’ll return for a second viewing – or more, once it hits that all-important home-entertainment release – is hard to say. As the name suggests, too many Minions can lead to overkill.
Minions is out in cinemas now
