Review: Minions

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 Yeah, popular cartoon side characters!

The break out stars of the (in my opinion) ridiculously overrated Despicable Me now have their own origin story. After a little lesson in Minion evolution, and many "bosses" of theirs crashing and burning, three Minions, Kevin, Stuart, and Bob set off to find the baddest villain of them all to follow. The end up in Orlando, FL at a "VillainCon" and set their sights on Scarlett Overkill. (voiced by Sandra Bullock) She wants them to steal the Queen of England's crown for her, but of course things don't go as she planned.

Like last years Penguins of Madagascar, the side characters popularity has grown enough to warrant its own film. I'd say they're on par with each others. (Penguins eventually grew on me since my kid has made me watch it with him 1000 times) There were a few good laughs throughout. I have to give the filmmakers credit, it's ballsy to make the lead characters in a kids movie speak a combination of Spanish/French/English/Gibberish. The film relies heavily on slap stick because of that.

I feel a bit redundant because I've given the same grade to the last few kids movies I've watched, but I haven't been wowed by any animated film since HTTYD2. (Though I did throw Song of the Sea in my Netflix queue and I'm looking forward to that) Minions is just okay. Amusing enough for the adults, and my kid at least enjoyed it. He wasn't on the verge of tears like he was all throughout Inside Out. 

Recommended: Why not?

Grade: C+

Memorable Quote: "King Bob!!!!" - Bob. 

Comments

  1. KatyJuly 15, 2015 at 11:38 AM

    Nice review! My family, including me, loves Despicable Me. We quote it all the time. But the sequel was a total letdown, and I think that affected us from not being excited for the Minions spinoff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 15, 2015 at 2:24 PM

      I never saw the 2nd one, probably best that I skipped it.

      Delete
  2. DanielJuly 15, 2015 at 11:49 AM

    Loved Despicable Me, and the Minions in it, and this was a pleasant-enough time-waster, but it's not great. It's ballsy to have your main characters in a children's film speak in gibberish language, but the film is just too long. I think the Minions, like most popular side characters, work best (or ONLY work) in small doses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 15, 2015 at 2:24 PM

      Yes! That's the truth. It definitely could've been shorter.

      Delete
  3. Kevin PowersJuly 15, 2015 at 2:08 PM

    I seriously just wrote my own review of this and wrote this exact phrase "French-Spanish-English-Gibberish hybrid" to describe their language. Nice! I think you liked it a tiny bit more than me. I pretty much couldn't wait for it to be over.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 15, 2015 at 2:13 PM

      Great minds! Yeah, I definitely would not have sought this out if not for my kid. I do kind of regret it because he's been running around yelling "banana" quite frequently.

      Delete
  4. rhysgdruryJuly 15, 2015 at 6:15 PM

    Words cannot express my contempt for Minions so I've been avoiding this one like the plague ;) Nice review though! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. m.brownJuly 15, 2015 at 6:32 PM

    I was bored to tears during this one. Honestly. This brought me back to the nightmarish Hell of Cars 2. Ugh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 16, 2015 at 8:26 AM

      I skipped Cars 2. The first Cars was fucking awful.

      Delete
  6. m.brownJuly 15, 2015 at 6:32 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Candice FrederickJuly 15, 2015 at 9:47 PM

    sad to hear this is just ok

    ReplyDelete
  8. MattJuly 16, 2015 at 9:04 AM

    I have never seen Despicable Me but did see Despicable me 2. I can't say I'm a huge fan and I'm not sure I'll be watching Minions. I will say that the minions ride at Universal Studios was a lot of fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 17, 2015 at 6:43 AM

      I didn't know they have their own ride now. Haven't been there since I was a kid. That's interesting.

      Delete
  9. JoshJuly 24, 2015 at 4:31 AM

    I might see this, but I'll probably wait for DVD/VOD. Though, I still need to check out Despicable Me 2 (didn't care for the first one). Hope you like Song of the Sea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 24, 2015 at 7:36 AM

      I never saw DM2 either because I didn't like the first. I hope Song of the Sea comes on Instant so I can see it quicker.

      Delete
  10. Matthew St.ClairMay 29, 2016 at 9:05 AM

    I thought the first Despicable Me was cute. But I hated this movie! It's literally 90 minutes of the Minions acting silly and talking gibberish.

    Because this was close to getting in for Best Animated Feature, I would've been pissed that it got in while The Lego Movie couldn't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 30, 2016 at 1:39 PM

      Oh I know, Lego Movie was amazing. I do think it's impressive that a movie with characters speaking gibberish made so much money.

      Delete

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