In Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013) the cute, little, yellow minions completely stole the show and created a marketing juggernaut for Universal Studios and Illumination Entertainment. The tales of a decidedly bad guy evolving to become an ironic hero were sustained and enhanced by the bizarre and strangely metafictionally aware lackeys in tiny overalls. Thus, the only thing left for Universal and Illumination to do was to give the guys their own movie in the form of the rather obviously titled Minions, which serves as a prequel to the other two films.
As such, Minions can often be absolutely hilarious in many places. We see the Minions evolving from single-celled organisms and following life onto the ocean shores searching for the biggest, baddest and most evil master they can find to serve. This means, of course, that not only did Steve Carell’s Gru not create the little monsters, but also that they have been messing things up for a number of other masters throughout the years. Dracula, Napoleon and the King of the Dinosaurs all get the short shrift from the yellow guys.
The bulk of the film takes place in the 1960s when three of the minions, Stuart, Bob and Kevin, sail to America and finally England to seek out and serve their newest, most evil master. This new villain is found in the form of Sandra Bullock’s Scarlet Overkill and her lackadaisical husband Herb (John Hamm). The plot, such that it is, involves stealing the crown of the Queen of England (Jennifer Saunders) and England itself which, of course, the Minions are all too happy to do.
The setting is enhanced by some truly excellent period rock and roll, making for what must be the best soundtrack of 2015. The Beatles, The Who, Donovan, The Turtles, The Doors, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix and more make up the sonic array of killer sixties tunes that the minions both rock out to and create hijinks to the beat of. At one point Kevin, Stuart and Bob actually lead some palace guards in a recognizable (yet lyrically indecipherable) rendition of “Hair” from the musical of the same name. It’s both brilliant and funny.
These montages are both a credit to and detriment to the film on the whole. While tiny vignettes of the minions acting crazy and commenting in their weird pidgin of English, Spanish and–who knows– are certainly entertaining, the end result is one of thinly stitched together sketch comedy bits that distract from the rather thin plot and themes. The visuals are great and the title characters (especially the main trio) are hilarious masters of physical comedy. Pierre Coffin (who directed the film with Kyle Balda) provides the voices for all minions from the opening “Universal Fanfare” to the post-credit clincher scene.
Further, the question looms as to why these adorable, kind, fun-loving and well-meaning minions are seeking a villain to serve in the first place. According to the onscreen dialogue and writing, their goal is actually “EVIL” and they seem to relish the thought, blowing things up, robbing banks and other less-than-positive pursuits. However their actions seem to point to a much more innocent mindset. Either this is the kid-friendly version of “edgy” or the filmmakers are trying to push a lesson that is buried in the comedy.
But comedy, Minions does have in spades and there are many laugh-out-loud moments for kids and adults. It would be a hard sell to get kids to quite “get” a Beatles Abbey Road visual reference or understand the jokes that go along with the title song to Hair, but the adults will be laughing at most of these. The big problem is that the tiny episodes of comedy well override the plot on the whole. Up until this film the little yellow guys have only “starred” in Illumination shorts. At 91 minutes long, Minions is entertaining, but still feels like little more than a collection of those shorts.