Minions (12A.)
Directed Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda.
Featuring the voices of Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan and Jennifer Saunders. 90 mins
As a kids' film about evil, I suppose it is understandable that this Despicable Me spin off is a bit heartless: inventive, funny, pacy and, entertaining yes; one to tugs at your heartstrings, no. The calculation here is that the Minions – those goggle wearing Kinda egg shell creatures that the world seems to have taken to their hearts – are so damn cute and loveable that that alone would be enough to hold an audience. It worked for me: I had a blast with the movie as did the lady next to me but not so much her son, “Mummy, I don’t like this film.”
It is a weird little creation: a U certificate film that features violent deaths and includes hangman noose jokes. The twist of the Despicable Me films was to make a super villain the loveable lead character and after DespMe 2 took nearly $1billion worldwide and became Universal's most profitable film ever, the milking process was expanded to include both a sequel (due in 2017) and a spin off with the henchmen figures who were the films' real selling point. In this prequel we learn that Minions are a wandering tribe who have spent history (prehistory) looking for pointy nosed figures of evil to serve. It all ends up in sixties London and a plot to steal the Queen's crown.
The film is simply an unrelenting series of clever and skillfully executed visual gags. On the downside Sandra Bullock's Scarlet Overkill character is way less interesting than her name and the random selection of sixties tunes that make up the soundtrack rarely connect with events on screen.
Minions (12A.)
Directed Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda.
Featuring the voices of Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan and Jennifer Saunders. 90 mins
As a kids' film about evil, I suppose it is understandable that this Despicable Me spin off is a bit heartless: inventive, funny, pacy and, entertaining yes; one to tugs at your heartstrings, no. The calculation here is that the Minions – those goggle wearing Kinda egg shell creatures that the world seems to have taken to their hearts – are so damn cute and loveable that that alone would be enough to hold an audience. It worked for me: I had a blast with the movie as did the lady next to me but not so much her son, “Mummy, I don’t like this film.”
It is a weird little creation: a U certificate film that features violent deaths and includes hangman noose jokes. The twist of the Despicable Me films was to make a super villain the loveable lead character and after DespMe 2 took nearly $1billion worldwide and became Universal's most profitable film ever, the milking process was expanded to include both a sequel (due in 2017) and a spin off with the henchmen figures who were the films' real selling point. In this prequel we learn that Minions are a wandering tribe who have spent history (prehistory) looking for pointy nosed figures of evil to serve. It all ends up in sixties London and a plot to steal the Queen's crown.
The film is simply an unrelenting series of clever and skillfully executed visual gags. On the downside Sandra Bullock's Scarlet Overkill character is way less interesting than her name and the random selection of sixties tunes that make up the soundtrack rarely connect with events on screen.
